


One Shots-Maribat Edition

by justcourtee



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Daminette - Relationship - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 37,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25759666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justcourtee/pseuds/justcourtee
Summary: These are a few one-shots I had written via asks on Tumblr! I'll post the prompt in each summary box before the stories :)
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 84
Kudos: 437





	1. Call It What You Want

**Author's Note:**

> This first one was a songfic prompt based off of Taylor Swift's 'Call It What You Want'. It was posted by @marimacaron on Tumblr

Marinette’s eyes fell to the glittering rock on her left hand, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she hit post on her computer. Within seconds, hundreds of comments and likes flooded her Instagram from fans and friends alike, most wishing her well for her engagement, a few earning a chuckle at their distress that she was now ‘off the market’.

She reached forward to shut her laptop when one comment in particular caught her eye.

_@alyabloglyfe: Why are you still vying for attention? We all know @queenlyla is engaged to Damian Wayne, I mean, why would he be interested in a liar and bully like you?_

Already, twenty fans were fighting the girl’s comment, dissing Alya and defending Marinette’s honor, but it didn’t seem to help the punch to the gut she was experiencing. Her fingers lingered over the keyboard, the room seeming to blur around her.

All of a sudden, she felt fifteen again, trapped in her bedroom only being able to scroll through the hate mail that flooded her inbox from all of her former friends. She thought that begging her parents to allow her to pull out of school and switch to an online platform would deter them from attacking her so often, but it only made things worse as they became more confident and vile in their bullying as they could hide behind a screen.

Every night, Marinette would cry herself to sleep wondering what she did so wrong to deserve all of this until one day she decided it would be enough. She deleted all of her social media, even taking down her MDC commissions page, asking her clients to meet her in person or via phone call to schedule fittings and commissions. And it worked, at least for a little while, until they started to vandalize her parent’s bakery, breaking windows and spray painting signs, the cops never seeming to catch them.

Her fingers tapped out the first sentence of her response, her eyes absentmindedly glazed over as she wrote a paragraph, then two, all directed to Alya. She was about to hit send when she felt a pair of arms snake around her shoulders, warm breath tickling the back of her ears.

“How’d your fans take the news?” his deep voice felt like a lifeline as she slammed her laptop shut, blinking away the empty feeling Alya had brought.

He let out a low whistle as he unwinded himself, allowing her to stand up from the desk and fall into his outstretched arms.

“That good, huh?”

She forced out a dry laugh as she buried her face into his chest.

“Just a few people upset that I’m officially a taken woman.”

It was his turn to laugh as she pulled back, taking in the sight of his carefree face. It was always so beautiful, so much peace that he held, all reserved for her.

“Do you have any plans tonight? You know Richard will want to host an exaggerant engagement feast.” He rolled his eyes, but his smile gave him away. She knew he secretly loved being the center of attention, especially when it came to his family.

“I’ll make sure to have everything done by 5 today, promise.”

Ducking under his arms, she slung her purse over her head, making a beeline for the door.

“Do you need Alfred to escort you?” he called after her retreating figure but it was too late, she was gone.

… … … … … . .

Exiting the fabric store, Marinette made her way down Gotham’s winding streets, her head in another place as she tried to recall anything she could’ve missed.

“This is why you should’ve brought your list with you Marinette!” Tikki popped their head out of her purse, their arms crossed in a scolding manner.

“I would have Tikki, but you know how overprotective he is. He would’ve insisted I waited for Alfred to come down to the apartment to drive me and no offense to Alfred, but sometimes a girl just wants to be alone.”

Her pace slowed as a familiar landscape came into her sight.

“Oh wow Tikki, I haven’t been here in almost three years.” her voice trailed off as she scanned over the construction crew working on the new gymnasium.

“Gotham Academy! This is where you transferred to right?”

She didn’t answer the small God as she took a step forward, placing a hand on the elegant banisters leading up the school stairs. The fresh scent of cleaning supplies filled her nostrils as she closed her eyes, her mind falling back to the comment from earlier.

She was only sixteen when her parents allowed her to transfer. It was in both of their best interests as they couldn’t afford to keep repairing the bakery her former friends destroyed. She was a mere shell of a person when she entered those doors for the first time. She had already decided that she wasn’t going to make any friends this time around, after all, no friends meant no one to stab her in the back, as they all do eventually.

But then something strange happened. The student who was assigned to show her around for the first week was just as cold and calculated. His thorns were just as sharp as hers, neither opening up much to the other. She had planned for warm and inviting, the fake friends trying to pry her open, but she hadn’t planned for someone to hold her attention, someone as cold as her.

One week turned into two, and then a month passed and she dared to consider him her friend.

“Marinette? Marinette? Are you still in there?”

She slowly opened her eyes to a concerned kwami, Tikki’s small hands shaking her nose to the best of their ability.

“I’m fine Tikki, just a bit of reminiscing I suppose.”

Continuing again, Marinette soon found herself in front of her studio. The little bell rang through the place as ten heads popped up, all wearing bright smiles. Unique almost tackled her in a hug before the door had even closed.

“Marinette! We were so excited when you posted this morning! It was sooo hard keeping your relationship a secret when customers asked!”

Hannah and Brooke nodded in agreement as the girls all left their work stations to admire her ring.

“Can we help you design your wedding dress?” Hannah clasped her hands together, earning a chorus of please’s throughout the room.

Marinette chuckled as she brought the women into a big group hug.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, enough small talk, let’s get down to business, anything new?”

It was as if someone switched a flip in the room, the girls jumping from excited to serious as they all handed in folders, giving her a brief of each new commission. It was going to be a long day of work, certainly.  
… . . … … … … .  
Her keys jiggled in the apartment lock as she practically fell in, all of her energy drained.

“Damian? Do we have any coffee?”

She didn’t hear an answer as she reached for the cupboard, bringing down her favorite mug. Damian had given it to her a month into them dating.  
Her fingers absentmindedly reached to her neck where a small D sat on an elegant gold chain.

“I don’t understand Mari-san. You wearing his initial is a statement that he owns you. How is that romantic?”

She adjusted her phone to give Kagami a better look at the necklace, smiling softly as she held the D between two fingers.

“Because Kagami it’s not like that, I don’t wear it cause he ‘owns me’. I wear it because for the first time in a while, I really feel like someone really knows me, ya feel?”

“I do not ‘feel’ but if you are happy, then it is an acceptable gift, as is the coffee mug with the picture of you two.”

The whistle from the coffee machine drew her attention back to the present as Tikki flashed her a smile from where they sat on the Keurig.

“Thank you Tikki. I’m going to need this,” she held up her steaming mug, a tired smile flashing gratefully at the God.

Downing the cup, she placed it in the sink before pulling out her phone seeing three missed texts from Damian stating he would be home soon.

“Well Tikki, at least I’m not the one running late for once.” The two shared a small laugh before they headed towards her bedroom to get dressed for the night.  
… … … … … … … .  
Damian squeezed her hand tightly as they made their way through Wayne Manner’s garden.

“There could be a small thousand here tonight, are you ready for that Mrs Wayne?”

His smile was blinding as her heart beat rapidly at the sound of him calling her by his last name.

“I most certainly am Mr. Wayne.”

As they rounded the corner to the back of the gardens, Marinette couldn’t help but laugh at the number of people Dick had invited. Loud cheers erupted from every inch of the yard causing her entire face to flash red.

“I might’ve underestimated, I’d say at least three thousand.”

He squeezed her hand once more before he was pulled off into the crowd. She smiled at the genuine fear crossing his face as people began berating him about children so soon.

“Well, well, well, a beautiful woman in distress. Please allow me to be your stand in to ward off the power hungry tonight.”

Jason slung his arm over her shoulders earning a laugh from the smaller girl.

“I am eternally grateful for your services Monsieur Todd.”

They chatted lightly as he led her back to where her future family all stood, all practically vibrating from excitement, even Bruce.

“Mari! I’m so excited! I really thought he was going to force me to hold this a secret for forever.”

Dick pulled her into a bone crushing hug, only pulling back when Barbara and Stephanie forced him to. They each took their turns expressing their excitement for the wedding, Tim even going as far as to say he never thought it would happen.

“What? We were all thinking it! Demon spawn? Happy and smiling all the time? It’s scary!” he shuddered sending another round of laughter throughout the group.

Marinette brought up her phone, snapping a picture, posting it immediately to her Insta.

_@mdcdesigns: So excited to officially be a part of this family. (not that I haven’t considered them family for years now :))_

She was about to slide her phone back into her purse when something caught her attention. Almost instantly, a private message from Alya sat in her inbox. She wanted to ignore it, but the curiosity was eating her up.

_@alyabloglyfe: Soo what?You don’t post for months and all of a sudden you show up with a double post about a supposed engagement to Damian Wayne?_

_What is this?_

_A publicity stunt?_

_A desperate cry to try and hurt Lyla even after all these years?_

_I demand an answer ‘bestie’_

Her heart beat clenched at the last message as she felt the tears trying to pool in her eyes. So many years had passed and Alya still believed her to be the liar and failure that Lila painted her out to be.

She wanted to respond to the messages, but she wasn’t even sure what to say. Her fingers lingered over her keyboard as she looked up, trying to collect her thoughts. Then she saw him. His calm smile, his shining green eyes, the love radiating from him all directed to her. His eyes met hers as he excused himself from the person he was talking to.

“Are you alright habibti?”

His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her into his side. It was as if everything faded away, the only thing she could see was him. Standing on her tiptoes, she gently placed a kiss on his cheek.

“I’m doing better than I ever was.”

He smiled, seemingly satisfied with her answer as she unlocked her phone once more, her fingers moving quickly across the keyboard.

_@mdcdesigns: Alya, I don’t need this from you or Lila anymore. I have a world famous business, 1.3 million followers and fans, a loving new family and a fiance who loves me like I’m brand new despite the damage you put me through._

_You don’t really want to know what I call this, because you’ll only distort it to fit your fantasy that Lila painted for you so you know what?_

_Call it what you want :)_

She moved to the top of the screen, blocking her old friend without a second thought. After all, she had her new life and it had no room for the past to ruin that. Raising her glass, she leaned forward to clink it with the rest, a new sense of relief flowing through her.

“To Damian, for finally proposing before I had to.”

They all cheered to his mock protests as they brought their flutes to their lips, celebrating the next chapter in their lives, not a single worry filling the space, only love.


	2. Death By A Thousand Cuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien put the mission first, but could he really expect her to be waiting for him when he returned?

“Just let go Adrien!”

Marinette threw his hands down as hard as she could, her body trembling as she backed a few steps away from the blonde.

“Marinette, I need you to understand-”

“No!” Her voice was shaking as the tears kept falling at a blinding rate. “I don’t need to understand anything Adrien. If you think Lila is what’s best for you, then you need to leave right now and never come back.”

“Marinette-” He took a step forward only to feel a stinging pain spread across his cheek.

“Leave Agreste. I never want to see you again.”

His hand reached up to touch the warm handprint as he watched as she ran into the night. He didn’t bother to follow. He knew she would understand one day, and eventually she would come back, but for now, he had to stick to the mission.

Get the peacock brooch from Lila Rossi.

… … … … … … … … … … … … .

Nino’s eyes flew open at the sound of the banging on his apartment door. Looking over, his alarm read 6:00a.m. meaning only one person could be awake at such an annoying time. Dragging his feet across the floor, Nino’s hand rested on the doorknob, counting to three before flinging it open.

“Adrien. My dude. Why are you here at such an unholy time?”

Adrien didn’t even bother to respond as he shoved a coffee cup into Nino’s open hand, pushing his way into the apartment.

With a great sigh, Nino inhaled the scent of dark roast before shutting the door.

“Do you know what today is Nino?”

“Uh, Tuesday?”

“Wrong, well technically right, but wrong context. Today my good friend, is the day I have recovered the last missing Miraculous.”

Adrien waited for a moment as the realization sank in on Nino’s face. Setting down his coffee, Nino rushed in to hug his friend.

“Dude! That means you’re free! Have you broken up with her yet?”

Nino pulled back as Adrien nodded, a smile practically breaking his face.

“I left her a note on the kitchen counter, my suitcases are in my car and I made an immediate beeline for your apartment.”

The two men rejoiced for a few minutes, finally glad to be rid of Lila’s tyranny. Slowly though, the unanswered question filtered into the room, dampening their good mood.

“Have you called Mari yet?”

A pained expression crossed Adrien’s face as his hand unconsciously reached up to rub the back of his neck.

“It’s been two years Nino, she didn’t understand at first, do you really think she’ll understand now?”

Nino opened his mouth ready to argue with his best friend that Marinette loved him and he couldn’t imagine her not wanting him back if he just explained it to her. But the look in Adrien’s eyes stopped him in his tracks. He already knew what he wanted to do, he just wanted Nino to confirm it in case it all went sideways.

“I think,” he began, his voice holding a level of uncertainty, “I think you should see her in person. You can’t make someone understand sincerity over a phone call.”

Adrien nodded, his smile reappearing as he reached out to clap Nino’s arm.

“I was hoping you would say that. So, could you be ready in thirty minutes?”

Nino’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Dude, you do realize that Marinette isn’t in Paris anymore right?”

“I know, that’s why you’ll need to pack a bag. My plane is prepped and ready. It’s time to bring my lady back home.”

… … … … … … … … … …

“Alright, so her last post to her Snap was a little coffee shop about twenty minutes ago. It’s a long shot, but that’s where we should start.”

“How far away is it?”

Adrien straightened his collar for the hundredth time since they had landed, the flower bag crumbling under his tight grip.

“About two miles from here. Are you sure you’re ready for this dude? What if you don’t like what you find?”

“What do you mean?”

Nino fiddled with his ball cap as he debated how he wanted to approach the situation. If he told him what Alya had said, he could be crushed. But if Adrien stumbled across it before he could say anything, well, he wasn’t sure how he would react.

“Alya said she was talking to somebody, a boy from here actually. They could be more than friends-”

He couldn’t even finish his sentence as a laughter bubbled from Adrien. It started out soft, but soon grew to be louder, more hysterical. Nino reached forward to put a hand on his shoulder only to be shrugged off in his fit.

“There’s no way Mari moved on so quickly. We loved each other Nino! She loved me for so many years before as well. You can’t just throw all that away, she wouldn’t!”

Nino wanted to say something, but he didn’t know if he could reach through this level of delusion.

“I’m just saying dude, two years is a long time to expect someone to pine over you. Especially after you broke her heart.”

Before Adrien could respond, a bell cut through the air as a couple stepped out, their laughter warming the brisk night air. He caught a glimpse of her face, relaxed, happy and totally enamored with the man whose arm she clutched so tightly.

Without a second thought, Adrien rushed forward, pulling the girl harshly from the man’s arm and into his own.

“Marinette! I’ve missed you so much!”

She struggled in his arms, attempting to pull back, but his grip was too tight. Moving his hands to her face, he pulled her up to meet his lips, crashing into them as he hungrily drank up the missing two years they had been apart.

“Unhand her you buffoon.”

Adrien felt two hands grip his shoulders, throwing him into the nearest wall. The man raised one fist as Adrien braced for a punch that never came. He peeked open one eye to see his lady holding the man’s arm back, trying to talk him down from his tantrum.

Slowly he sank down the wall as the man stepped backwards, his piercing eyes drilling holes into him. Marinette offered him a shy hand, her smile weak as she helped him back to his feet.

“My lady, I thought it would never end, but I finished the mission. I left Lila to come be with you!”

Marinette reached down to pick up the crumbled flowers, a slight hesitation crossing her face as she turned to face him.

“Adrien what are you talking about? You broke up with me years ago.”

“Two years to be exact. I only did it so that I could trick Lila into trusting me. She had the peacock Miraculous. It was necessary!”

“Necessary?”

His eyes glazed as he opened his arms, ready for her to run into them and away from the scary man. He wasn’t prepared for her hand to dart out, the contact with his face feeling as though a thousand volts traveled throughout his body.

“You broke up with me, over a mission?” The tears welled up in her eyes as her face turned a crimson shade of red.

Tentatively he reached up to touch the forming hand print, the same place she hit two years ago.

“Marinette, you have to understand-”

“No, you have to understand Adrien. My heart, my hips, my body, my love. Trying to find a part of me that you didn’t touch, that you didn’t taint. My time, my spirit, my trust. Trying to find a part of me that you didn’t break. Trying to find something, anything I could give to Damian.”

The man, no, Damian came to stand by her side, his hand resting on her shoulder as her tears poured down, hot and angry, all of it directed at him. Adrien tried to open his mouth, deny any wrong, but she wasn’t finished.

“You said it was a great love, one for the ages, but when I gave you everything, believing you truly felt what you said.” she choked, allowing herself to be pulled into Damian’s side, her tears soaking his shirt.

“Marinette, I’m so sorry. The mission-”

“Shouldn’t have been your priority. But that was your loss Agreste.” Damian stared down at him, daring him to contradict, but Adrien couldn’t. His eyes were still glued to his lady, the realization of how badly the mission had hurt her finally settling in.

“But-”

Damian silenced him with one motion of his hand as he yanked Adrien to his feet, the fury radiating off of him in waves.

“I can only explain it to you. I can’t understand it for you. Now get lost Agreste, I’m helping her find herself again, something you made her lose. She’s a strong, intelligent, cunning, beautiful woman and you lost her. Don’t ever come to Gotham City again looking to hurt her.”

He dropped the blonde like a sack of rocks, not bothering to look back to see if he landed okay. Adrien watched as he gathered Marinette into her arms, leading her away from the coffee shop, away from him.

“Adrien, are you okay?”

Nino took a step forward, worry dripping from his voice as he helped his friend to his feet. Adrien watched their retreating figures, his heart falling further in his chest at every step they took. With a deep sigh, he leaned down to pick up the flowers Marinette had dropped, the petals smashed and broken. Not even bothering to attempt to save them, he shoved them in the nearest trash bin, his eyes threatening to spill.

“Adrien?”

He met Nino’s eyes, forcing a smile to his face as he threw his arm around his shoulders.

“I’ll be alright, it’s just a thousand cuts.”


	3. A Brother's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @sixtyeightdays asked: im not sure if youre taking asks but here goes: platonic jasonette, bc there isnt enough sibling jasonette in the world

If a year ago you had told Jason Todd that he would be smushed flat against the wall of a small coffee shop in Paris, France spying on his favorite designer’s first date, he would’ve laughed in your face. After all, nobody knew MDC’s secret identity and even if his jerk siblings found out, they wouldn’t tell him anyway, just to torture him.

Yet somehow, he found himself in this exact situation, his anger rising with each passing minute that her date was late. He watched as Marinette picked up her phone for the hundredth time to check the time, check her messages, and sigh as she placed it face down once more, defeated. Part of him wanted to storm over to her table, scoop her up in the tightest hug and take her out for two scoops of ice cream from the best creamery in Paris.

But alas, if he even moved an inch, she would spot him and he’d never hear the end of him being an overprotective ass. The sound of her phone ringing caught his attention as he watched her fumble to try and answer.

“Hi! Yes, I’m at the coffee shop. - Have I been waiting long? No, no, not at all.”

Jason rolled his eyes. She was too kind for her own good. It was how she got into the Lila debacle. It was how she let her classmates walk all over her for too many years. It was why she was letting this Adrien kid treat her as a second rate now.

“The Louvre? I mean I guess I can close out here and meet you there.” There was a pause as her head dropped in disappointment.

Jason felt his blood boiling. Not only did this punk leave her waiting here for forty minutes without a signal message or call, but when he does decide to let her know he’s running late, he insists she comes to him? Jason didn’t care how well protected the model was, one way or another he deserved a black eye courtesy of Jason’s right fist.

He waited for Marinette to finish gathering her stuff. She laid a note onto the table, not bothering to ask for change, she never did, and exited the door, her face heavy. Laying a note of his own down, he raced after her, careful to keep a few hundred feet between them.

Jason felt as though he was beginning to break a sweat as he tried to keep up with her pace. As she turned down an alleyway, Jason broke into a sprint, trying not to lose her. As he turned the corner, a hand shot out toward his jacket, slamming him into the wall.

“I thought I told you my first date was off-limits.”

“Hi princess,” his voice was breathless as he tried to keep the pain from seeping in. “Just thought I’d stop in and say hi.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him before letting go, allowing him to readjust his jacket.

“Besides, doesn’t seem like much of a date. I haven’t seen the punk once.”

Her eyes seemed to blaze as they cut into his. Jason raised his hands in defense, but he refused to apologize. They seemed to be locked into a staredown, both standing in the alley, arms crossed, neither budging in their positions.

“He’s not a punk Jason, he just was running late on his photoshoot. They just finished up at the Louvre which is where he invited me to. We’re gonna walk the museum and try to find Andrè’s ice cream afterward.”

Her tone was so matter-of-fact, so confident that he wanted to believe her, but her eyes were broken. They seemed so tired as if she almost expected to be stood up at this point.

“Mari, I’ve been here a year now. This is the twelfth first date you and Adrien have attempted. Every month he gets your hopes up and every month something always comes up last minute. How do you know he really is at the Louvre?”

Her arms dropped as her hands curled into fists. Jason knew he hit a sensitive topic, but he couldn’t watch her break her own heart. Not again.

“He’ll be there. Now leave Jason, this doesn’t concern you.”

She turned on her heel, exiting the alleyway without another word.

… … … … … … … … … … .

Jason huffed as he landed on the nearest roof with a view to the courtyard. Following on foot grew too hard as Marinette constantly kept looking back, checking to see if he was still there. Besides, she said it didn’t concern Jason but she said nothing about Red Hood.

He tapped the side of his helmet, enhancing the zoom, silently thanking Barbara a million times over. The courtyard was empty besides Marinette and a blonde boy sitting on a bench, neither looking particularly happy.

“Don’t fail me now helmet.”

Jason hesitantly reached up to tap the newest installment Barbara had insisted on; audio enhancement.

“-it’s just ridiculous Adrien! You can’t sit under her thumb forever!”

The boy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, trying to avoid direct eye contact with Marinette.

“Lila will turn my father on me Marinette, you have to understand. I really do like you and I would love to date you, but it’s a choice between you and freedom.”

For the third time that night, Jason felt his blood pressure rise from this punk kid. Before he realized what he was doing, the rush of air filled his ears as his grapple strained under the weight of him. His landing was rough as he tumbled less than ten feet from the bench, rolling to a stop right in front of the couple.

As he struggled to his feet, his eyes met Marinette’s. They were a mixture of anger and tears, fueling his rage.

“You.” His voice was menacing, all of his anger directed to the blonde sitting in front of him.

“Me?” Adrien seemed to shrink in on himself, his eyes widening as he took in the hero in front of him.

“You are a literal piece of scum. Do you understand what you’re losing here?”

“Hood, don’t-” Marinette tried to reach out, her voice begging, but he simply shrugged her off, grasping Adrien by the neck of his shirt.

“Marinette is an amazing girl. She’s absolutely brilliant, I mean have you seen her grades? They freaking fly off the charts. If you all had a GPA system, she would knock all of you out of the ballpark with no chance of recovery. Marinette is so talented. Her designs have so much potential to run an empire in the future. She already has multiple big-name clients and I know she’ll only expand from there.”

Adrien tried to object, but Jason didn’t give him the chance. His grip tightened as he lifted Adrien from the bench, his tiptoes barely scraping the courtyard stones.

“Marinette is daring, courageous, compassionate, and way too caring for her own good. None of you deserve her. Paris doesn’t deserve her.”

He felt two small hands wrap around his arm, attempting to pull him off of the boy but to no avail.

“Marinette do something! Tell your friend to stand down.”

Adrien struggled under the man’s grasp, his wild eyes begging the girl.

“You little punk, face me yourself. After tonight, you don’t have Marinette to hide behind anymore. If I even see you in a twenty-foot radius of her, you’re dead. Got it, kid?”

He dropped the blonde, watching as he stumbled backward before taking off into a sprint, never looking back.

Jason wanted to chase after him, finish teaching him a lesson, but the sound of soft sniffles from behind him required his immediate attention. His arms automatically pulled her into his chest, the sniffles muffled by his suit.

“Don’t worry Marinette, he’s never gonna hurt you again.”

She didn’t answer him as her sniffles slowly died out, her arms tightening around Jason’s waist.

“C’mon.” He slowly pulled back using his gloved hand to wipe a stray tear from her face. “Let’s go get some ice cream.”  
… … … … … … … . .

Jason accepted his cone from André, attempting to hand the man a tip, but he simply blocked Jason, shaking his hand.

“Anything for Marinette. I could feel her broken heart before she even arrived. A girl like her doesn’t deserve to be so broken.”

Jason sighed in agreement as he returned to the bench she sat on, handing her one of the cones.

“Thanks, Jason. I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier, I just really wanted to believe that Adrien would come through. That our love could outweigh any obstacle this world throws at us.”

“Princess, did I ever tell you the reason I came to Paris in the first place?”

Marinette shook her head as she took a timid bite from her cone.

“My brother’s had a competition with each other to see who could discover the identity of my favorite designer, MDC. It took a couple months, but low and behold, August 16th comes around and my youngest brother handed me a wrapped folder that contained a plane ticket for Paris and your parent’s address. He said it was my birthday gift and it was scheduled to leave in the morning.”

“You came all the way to Paris, from Gotham City, to meet me?”

Jason nodded, taking a bite from his cone as well, throwing an arm over Marinette’s shoulders.

“I was never expecting a small child of only seventeen years to be my all-time favorite person in the world. I mean your leather jackets can hold through a lot of trauma, trust me, Roy and I tried.”

Marinette giggled, her face slowly relaxing into one of peace.

“If Adrien can’t see how amazing you are, amazing enough for some guy to fly half-way across the world to meet you, then I’m sorry but I don’t think he really loves you.”

“Did you mean every word you said to Adrien?”

Jason looked over at the smaller girl, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“Every last one.”

Marinette nodded, a small ‘cool’ barely audible escaping from her lips. They sat in silence for a few moments before Marinette spoke again.

“I’m over Adrien Agreste. For good this time.”

“Finally.” Jason pumped his fist in the air earning another giggle from her.

As they finished up their cones, Jason helped her to her feet, a sly smile crossing his face.

“You know, you graduate in a couple months. Maybe you can come back to Gotham with me, meet my other family. I’m sure they’ll love you as much as I do.”

“Maybe I can meet that little brother of yours. After all, anyone who can figure out my well-guarded secret sounds like a very intelligent person.”

Jason laughed, his mind tracing back to the image of Damian with a pot stuck on his head after pissing off Dick’s former teammate Raven.

“I don’t know about intelligence, but I would say he’s extremely devoted to the people he cares for.”

Marinette saw the wheels turning in Jason’s head as she tried to form a no before he could blurt out what she thought he was thinking.

“You two would be so great together! Oh God, I sound like circus boy. Anyways, it’s settled. As your honorary brother and full-time wingman, I am setting you up with Damian Wayne.”

Jason dipped down, snatched her phone off the bench, and took off in a sprint.

“Jason! JasoN I DON’T HAVE INTERNATIONAL DATA!”

The streets filled with the sounds of their laughter as both took off into the night, a bright future lying ahead, neither looking back on the events of the night.

After all, ice cream mends most broken hearts, but nothing fixes you quite like a brother’s love.


	4. The Birthday Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: I love your sibling Jasonette, so may I please have some more? *Raises gruel bowl*

Jason was having a shitty day.

Marinette was supposed to call him when her plane touched down at Gotham Airport, but that was hours ago and she had yet to return a single message. On top of that, stupid Bruce blindsided with yet another intervention with Batman Incorporated and how yes there are terrible villains out there, but we are not the judge, jury, and executioner. A load of hypocrites if you asked him.  
Finally, Roy stood him up for a drink at their favorite bar due to a meeting with Oliver.

So he could honestly say he was not surprised when a handful of Joker’s thugs dropped in on him on his self-pitying walk home.

“Look, guys, today is not my day. I’ll let you off easy if you leave now.”

The men’s painted smiles sent shivers down his back, reminding him just a little too much of the original. They said nothing as they circled him, waiting for him to make the first move, a mistake he had made many times with them.

“C’mon dudes, can’t you give a guy a break. It’s my birthday today and even my own sister stood me up.”

One of the men began to snicker as if he found the idea of Jason’s loneliness funny. Maybe it was, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to laugh with them. The sound of footsteps approaching caught his attention. He felt his whole body stiffen as the maniacal laughter reached his ears. No one else sounded so deranged, so crazy, but it couldn’t be. The world didn’t hate him this much right?

Wrong.

“Well, well, well, little Jason Todd. Oh my, it’s been so long, you’ve grown so much.”

Joker himself in all of his clown prince glory. His smile sickened Jason’s stomach to the core.

“What do you want, Joker?”

The clown’s face frowned in mock hurt as he placed a dramatic hand over his heart.

“Is that any way to talk to your favorite agent of chaos? Now now little bird, I’m not here as a threat, I’m here to offer you some birthday fun! After all, you always were my favorite little Robin. It’s why I treated you so much more tenderly than the rest.”

Joker reached up to wipe a fake tear from his face before allowing the grin to stretch it’s way back slowly. Jason’s mind was racing with possibilities, the number one being an exit strategy. Four men, all deranged, plus the Joker himself. It wasn’t looking great, but there was no way this clown was going to kill him twice in this lifetime.

“What’s this gift you mentioned? So kind of you to think of me on this day.” It took everything he had to hold back the sarcasm from dripping off his tongue. His hand moved in the slightest, trying to reach the gun he had tucked in his waistband.

“I’m glad you asked-”

Before he could finish his sentence, a figure dropped from the rooftops, landing on the nearest goon. The three remaining men all reached for their weapons, but could never touch them. Something shot out, gripping their guns and pulling them into the abyss of darkness. For a brief second, Jason allowed himself to feel hopeful.

Maybe the old man finally remembered his birthday, maybe he was here to help him. But as the figure stood, taking a step into the light, he felt his heart drop. A small girl stood in front of him dressed in a skintight black suit, small red dots lining her sides. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun on top of her head, her mask solid red matching the side of her suit.

“I’ll give you one chance Joker, let go of the boy and I’ll let you go.”

There was a tense silence for a moment before Joker laughter tore through the air.

“A child! Are you Batman’s new birdy my girl?”

The small figure stiffened as Joker’s men began recovering their wits, some drawing pocket knives, others closing in with their bare hands.

“Do I look like a bird to you?”

Jason had to hand it to her. The kid had guts to stand before the Joker and insult his jokes, but he knew the clown’s patience was running thin. Sooner or later, he was going to give the order and the thugs would tear into her. He was so close to his gun, but any sudden movement could put her in danger now.

“Now now, it sounds like you need an attitude adjustment. Why don’t you ask Jason here how it feels?”

His smirk was sinister and with the flick of his hand, the thugs all jumped. They were fast, but she was faster. One by one she knocked them out, flipping and twirling with grace as she dodged each attempt on her life. Jason’s fingers finally wrapped around his gun, a sense of relief flooding through his body.

This was what he needed to shift the fight, but something stopped him. Numbness spread through his limbs as he lost his grip on the gun, the weapon clattering against the concrete. He vaguely recognized the hand on his back giving him a shove forward, but he couldn’t put his arms out to save himself.

“No!” The girl tried to rush forward, but she was distracted as one of the thugs landed a punch, knocking her off her balance. They managed to subdue her, holding her still as Joker moved forward to examine the new curiosity.

“Quite interesting. How do you know my Jason?”

The girl’s eyes clouded over as she mustered as much strength as she could, trying to pull her arms free. Joker raised his hand, a sickening smack coming from the girl’s face as a red mark began to form. Jason tried to move, he needed to protect her like she tried to do for him, but it was impossible.

“Now, I asked you a question. Show some respect for your elders!” His laughter only enraged the girl.

“Don’t you dare touch him.”

“Oh, you mean, like this?” Joker raised his leg, landing a kick right into Jason’s ribcage sending the clown into a fit of laughter. “Or this?”

“Stop it! No! Jason!”

He knew the voice sounded so familiar, but he couldn’t focus on it, not with the endless pain rolling in.

“All you have to do is answer the question! You have the power to stop this dear.”

Jason tried his best to raise his head to look at her properly, but the best he could do was land one eye on the girl. The face, mask or not, he knew that face. Joker raised his foot once more, stopping only a millimeter from Jason’s face.

“He’s my brother! I swear if you hurt him again I’ll kill you. I’ll kill all of you.”

Jason felt the realization flood through him as his heart dropped. She didn’t abandon him. She was right here. Marinette.

“I see, I didn’t know my dear Jason had a sister. Honestly, I wouldn’t expect him to be related to someone so weak.”

He reared back his foot again, delivering yet another blow. Jason heard Marinette yell in rage, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“What the-”

Jason couldn’t see anything, he could barely move from the paralysis and the bruised rib cage. He heard the sounds of commotion sending panic through his body. These weren’t like the villains Marinette faced in Paris, these were rougher around the edge, their only goal to kill. Parsian villains killed, but almost always on accident, collateral damage. These men did it for fun.

He tested his fingers, a sense of urgency flooding through him as they twitched under his strained effort. Jason just about had his full hand in motion again when five shots rang through the air sucking the breath from his lungs.

“Bug? Bug are you alright?”

Jason couldn’t help the tears that fell down his face and trickled into his voice. She was the only family that mattered to him, the only one that ever cared for him. Using his good hand, he attempted to flip himself, only succeeding in straining his wrist.

“Bug!”

Two hands wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him into their lap, his head lolled backward before a soft touch helped him prop upwards. Two shining blue eyes stared down into his, a splatter of blood staining her mask.

“Bug what did you do? You don’t kill.”

She shook her head, dropping down to hug his numb body.

“I only wounded them. They crawled away carrying their stupid clown leader. Jason, I was so scared they were going to kill you.”

He felt a hot tear hit his face and then another. Soon her tears mixed with his own as the shock faded away. He almost let that asshole kill him again and in front of Marinette.

“Hey, hey, no tears on your birthday.”

Marinette wiped away his before she took care of her own, a shaky giggle escaping her lips.

“Mari, why didn’t you call back? I was so worried.”

The feeling had returned in both his arms as he tried his best to move his legs next.

“I was trying to finish your birthday gift, you know how I get when I’m sewing.”

It was Jason’s turn to laugh, still shaky as well as he tried to push what had happened out of his mind.

“What did you get me?”

“A new jacket. I know leather is your favorite and you always seem to ruin the ones I make you.”

They both shared a laugh as Marinette shook her head.

“Let me see if we’re lucky tonight.”

Marinette gently set him back on the ground as she called upon her lucky charm, only to throw it directly into the air with her signature phrase. Hundreds of small ladybugs circled his body, a warmth spreading throughout where they touched.

As they disappeared into the night sky, Jason tested his legs, a small smile tugging at his lips when they moved at his command.

“You know how much I love that thing right?”

Marinette shook her head as she called off her transformation catching a small, exhausted Tikki.

“You know how lucky you are that I transformed before they laid a hand on you right?”

Jason gently shoved her shoulder as she stuck her tongue out at him. As she finished caring for Tikki, she turned her full attention to him, slipping off the oversized jacket she was wearing.

“Here, this was your gift. It was the only way I could think to protect it without leaving it up on the rooftop.”

He slipped off his older jacket, a gift from his last day in Paris, and slipped on his new one, relishing in the perfect fit.

“You know, you’re a miracle worker Marinette. And since you’re in town, I think we can now use that phone of yours to contact Damian.”

“Don’t even think about it, after all, you don’t want to end up like those thugs.” Her tone was playful as she handed him back his fallen gun.

“I think I could take my chances.” He threw his arm over her shoulders as he guided her out of the alleyway. “Now, how about you buy me a birthday drink?”

“How about not? This is the States, my friend, I’m technically not legal here.”

Jason cursed under his breath earning a laugh from the smaller girl as they headed down the avenue. Jason felt his phone buzzing from his back pocket, most likely Bruce calling him about his Joker encounter (which he had no doubt he already found out about), but he didn’t have the energy for yet another lecture on his birthday. Not from him.

“Are you going to get that? It could be your family?”

Jason looked down to meet her concerned eyes, a sight that melted his heart. He shook his head, planting a small kiss on the top of her head.

“I’ve got the only family that matters right here and that’s the best birthday gift anyone could ask for.”


	5. Uhm Surprise?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @miracleofadisaster asked: Daminette Marinette accidental pregnancy reveal in front of the whole family

Marinette felt herself spiraling.

She sat in her apartment bathroom, her head buried into her hands in disbelief. They had finally done it. She was finally pregnant. Oh God, Damian was going to be so happy. Eight long months of trying and failing and here she was, sitting in a damp towel, tears of joy pouring down her face.

“Angel? Are you almost finished getting ready? You know how unreasonable Grayson gets when we are late for this cursed family night.”

Marinette wiped the tears from her face, standing as quietly as she could. The problem with marrying a former assassin was that he could always detect the slightest problems with his stupid hearing.

“I’m honestly just finishing up drying off. It’ll take another 15 at least to get dressed and put on some basic makeup.”

The pause on the other side of the door sent a shiver of fear through her spine. Maybe she hadn’t kept her voice level enough, maybe he could hear her excited undertones, maybe-

“Alright my love, but just know, you are risking the wrath of little Grayson as well.”

Marinette rolled her eyes at his nickname for Dick and Barbara’s child. He had only ever called his niece by name once, other than that, it was always little Grayson, or the spawn of satan. (Honestly though, from the stories they had told Marinette, maybe making him babysit the child was Dick’s revenge for Damian’s own childhood.)

She waited until she was sure he was no longer at the door before she released the quietest squeal she could manage. Maybe she would tell him after family night. After all, they were in every right to celebrate this victory together.  
. .… … … … … … … … . .  
Stepping out of the portal, Marinette didn’t even have the chance to detransform before she lost her stomach in Alfred’s shrubbery. Immediately, Damian was by her side, a wary look on his face as he did his best to hold back her hair from the assault.

“Are you alright angel? Portaling has never had that effect on you before.”

Marinette nodded as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, calling off the transformation.

‘So no portalling for the next few months. Noted.’

Pulling out a can of mints, Marinette swallowed three of them before breathing out a sigh of relief. Giving an okay to Damian, he pushed open the door, offering his arm for her to take.

“About damn time!”

Marinette sidestepped at the last second as Jason tackled Damian to the ground, putting him into a headlock as he ruffled her husband’s hair.

“You two lovebirds realize that you left me in an insufferable situation right? There’s like three kids and that’s not even counting Dickie bird.”

A vague ‘hey’ echoed through the hallways followed by laughter. Marinette shook her head as she tapped out for Damian, helping him up from the ground.

“So what Miraculous did you bring tonight Mari? I’m so ready for another spar.”

“I, uh, forgot. Yup.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at her.

“You guys didn’t drive up so that means you at least have Kaalki with you.”

“I do, but-”

“Great! We’ll practice my dodging later on.”

Jason slung his arms around the couple as he led them into the living room where several more faces sat, eagerly awaiting their arrival.

“And the last to the party, for the seventh week in a row, Mr. and Mrs. Damian Wayne! And the crowd goes wild!” Tim cupped his hands over his mouth as he exhaled loudly.

Before Damian could raise his fist, Marinette reached over, plucking the fresh bread from Tim’s plate, sending him a wink.

“We’re going for a new record.”

“I’ll say, you guys don’t even have kids yet. I can’t imagine how late you’ll be when you have a third one to dress Marinette.”

Damian grumbled under his breath as Marinette bit her lip hard, avoiding looking Tim in the eyes.

“What, no comeback? You’re slacking tonight Mari.”

Jason settled into the couch, gently kicking Tim in the back of the head in the process. For a second, all eyes were on her. She felt her face flush as she tried her best to hide behind Damian.

“She’s not feeling good tonight, but she came to make Grayson happy. Now leave her be or face my wrath.”

Tim and Jason let out a simultaneous ‘ooo’ before bursting into fits of laughter. Marinette saw Damian’s first begin to curl, but before he could completely close them, she forced her hand in between, intertwining their fingers. Instantly he relaxed as he leaned down to place a small kiss on her forehead.

“Who’s ready to party?” Two more faces joined the party as Stephanie and Barbara wondered in, each carrying a respective bottle of wine. “Brucie put the kids to bed, Dick is reading them a story, and we need to pregame before they come to stop us.”

“You seriously are going to pregame with wine?”

Jason raised his eyebrow at the two girls before shaking his head in disappointment.

“I thought I taught you both better than that.”

The pop of the cork made Marinette’s stomach flip. The smell was so potent. Had wine always smelt like this? She felt herself starting to gag as she tried to shove Tim’s slice of bread down before anything could come up.

“Hey! Marinette’s cheating! She’s eating bread before drinking.” Stephanie reached over in a playful manner, swatting at the piece of bread.

Marinette took a step back, but it was too quick of a movement as she felt all the blood rush to her head. Two sets of arms darted out as Stephanie and Damian caught her before she could hit the ground.

“Angel are you okay? You’re beginning to worry me.”

She couldn’t trust herself to speak so instead she nodded, holding up the half-eaten bread.

“Dude,” Stephanie slapped the back of Damian’s head, earning a growl from the man. “Why aren’t you feeding this tiny woman. If she passes out from lack of calories again, I’m sticking Cass on your ass.”

Jason snickered, earning a smack on the back of his head courtesy of Barbara.

“Well, well, well. Look who finally showed up. They finally showed up Bruce! Can you believe your eyes?”

Bruce shook his head as Dick raced forward, encasing Marinette in a bone-crushing hug.

“Dick, not so hard, please.”

She didn’t mean to let the distress slip into her voice, but it was too late. Dick pulled back, his eyes narrowed in concern as he assessed her face. He opened his mouth and Marinette knew it was over. She braced herself for the words that were about to slip out but alas, nothing came. Instead, Barbara pulled him away, handing him a glass of wine and offering one to her.

“Oh, uhm, no thank you. I’m not feeling so good today.”

“Oh, c’mon Mari! Drink with us!”

A chorus of ‘yeah’s’ and ‘drink up’ rang through the room as they waited for her to accept the glass. Gently she took the drink from Barbara’s hands with a small smile. But it wasn’t enough, they all stared at her, waiting for her to take the first sip. Nervously, she raised the glass to her lips, the smell overpowering her senses. The wine rose up to the edge of the glass as she tilted it back. It was so close to her lips, so close-

“I can’t!”

Jason stepped forward, crossing his arms as he narrowed in on the girl.

“Why not?”

“Because!”

“Because why? It’s just wine.”

“Because I’m pregnant!” Instantly she slapped her hand over her mouth as her eyes widened. The room fell deadly silent, all eyes on her and Damian.

“Angel? Did you just say you’re pregnant?” She felt him gather her hand, gently tugging her so that she faced his hopeful face. She shrugged her shoulders as a sheepish smile tugged at her lips.

“Uhm, surprise?”

Damian pulled her into his chest as the group cheered behind them.

“Not wanting to spar, the portal sickness, the fainting, no wine? God, I’m so stupid.”

Marinette pulled back with a giggle as she placed a small kiss on the tear rolling down his cheek.

“No, way. Brucie, you’re going to be a grandpa, and Damian’s having a kid, big night huh?”

Jason nudged his side as Bruce pulled the couple into a hug, tears of his own falling.

“You know what this means Steph?” Jason nodded as Stephanie squatted by the bar pulling out a green bottle.

“I’m one step ahead of you. Champagne to celebrate the miracle baby of Demon Spawn and a literal Angel!”

Another chorus of cheers rang through the room as Damian rested his head on Marinette’s forehead.

“I’m going to be a dad?” his voice was quiet and lulling, his love-drunk face filling Marinette with so much warmth.

“I wanted to tell you later, away from the crazy. I should’ve known better.”

His laughter was short and loud, drawing curious looks from the rest of the room.

“I love you so much, Marinette Wayne.”

“And I love you so much more Damian Wayne.”

His face inched closer to hers as she closed her eyes waiting for a kiss that never came.

“So about that sparring?”

Marinette cracked open one eye to see Jason standing where Damian once had, her husband sprawled out on the ground, struggling to lift his brother’s foot off his chest

“Do you think demon spawn could wield the miraculous? Nine months is such a drag to go on without magical training.”

“Todd if you do not remove your foot from your chest I will chop it off and shove it down your throat!”

“Yeesh.” Jason shook his head before raising an eyebrow at Marinette. “You sure you want to have a kid with this dude?”

Marinette laughed as she watched her husband finally push Jason off sending him flying backward. Reaching down, she helped him up once more, a smile tearing across her face.

“Absolutely.”


	6. Family Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Ohhhhh what if lila told everyone mari was a sex worker due to her spending individual time with all her boyfriends brothers. Abd she says this very loudky as Damian comes to pick her up one day after implying it for weeks

Lila knew she had her this time.

This was the third man to pick her up this week and while their exchanges were all innocent, side hugs or temple kisses only, it could easily be spun to look like something much worse. As she settled on the back of the man’s motorbike, Lila yanked Alya’s arm toward her.

“Woah, girl, what’s up?”

“Alya, look!”

She forced Alya’s eyes toward the motorbike as it drove off, the girl furrowing her eyebrows at the sight of Marinette on the back.

“It’s just Marinette’s ride, what’s wrong?”

Lila’s face feigned worry as she looked to both sides before leaning in as close as she could to the reporter.

“I’m concerned about Marinette. That’s the third man she’s left with this week. I don’t know if her parent’s business is failing, but that line of work is just so dangerous for pretty young girls like her.”

“Girl, what are you implying?”

Lila’s face fell for a moment. She was hoping that Alya wouldn’t be so dense, but alas, it seems she’d have to put a little more work into this one.

“Alya, I think Marinette is offering sex to those men in exchange for money.”

She was taken aback by the boisterous laughter that escaped Alya’s lips.

“No way, that’s not Marinette. You’re worried for nothing girl.”

As she walked away, Lila’s face contorted into an ugly scowl. This was the way to take down Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but she couldn’t do it without Alya aboard. It was going to be tough work, but she was going to prove it. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a sex worker and it would be her downfall.

… … … … … … … … . .  
For the next few weeks, Lila made sure she had Alya in a position to watch Marinette leave. Sure enough, the same three men rotated picking her up. For all Lila knew they could’ve been her cousins from out of town, but if so, Marinette made one fatal mistake. She didn’t tell Alya.

Slowly but surely, Alya became more open to the idea as Lila pointed out their nice car and their nice clothes. She showed Alya the small terms of endearment that each man gave her everytime they came to pick her up and how willingly Marinette was to run off with them before anyone could question who they were.

Poor, dumb, Marinette. She had played right into Lila’s story. All it took was a few well-placed tears and a couple of suggestions and down came Alya’s righteous protection of her best friend.

“Lila what do we do? She can’t keep doing it! People get killed in that line of work!”

Lila fought the urge to smile as she nodded through her crocodile tears. It was almost easier than she expected.

“We have to stage an intervention, tomorrow. When she rushes out to meet whoever it is tomorrow, we have to stop her. Gather as many people as you can.”

“Wouldn’t that be bad? I don’t want anyone’s opinion of her to fall, I mean why can’t you and I do it?”

Lila shook her head viciously as she gripped both of the girl’s shoulders.

“She needs to see that we all care for her. If it’s just you and me, she won’t take us seriously.”

Alya nodded as if Lila’s logic was flawless, and in a sense, it was. As the reporter walked off in a daze, Lila allowed a small smile to breakthrough.

Tomorrow was the day that Marinette Dupain-Cheng would be defeated.  
… … … … … … … … … … … … … .

As Lila entered the courtyard, Alya waved her over to a formidable size group. She was impressed. Alya had managed to gather the girls, Nathaniel, Nino, and even Kim. It wasn’t exactly a legion, but they would serve their purpose.

“Okay girl, it was your idea. How should we approach her?”

Lila frowned as the entire group turned their gazes to her. This wasn’t her plan. If she attacked, Marinette would surely retaliate. No. It had to be her ‘friends’.

“Alya, I think you have the best chance of getting through to her. You are her best friend after all.”

The rest of the group muttered agreements much to Alya’s dismay.

“Okay, but how do I even- Oh no, she’s coming, quick Lila, how do we stop her?”

Lila turned to see the girl practically skipping down the steps, her eyes locked on a mysterious man leaning against a bike in the entrance. She hadn’t seen this one since the first day she had noticed the men, but it made no matter, he played his role just as well as the others.

“Alya, grab her hand and lead her over here. Just tell her you had to ask her a question.”

Alya nodded, taking off in the direction to where her friend was, a determined look across her face. It was all falling together perfectly. Lila watched as she dragged Marinette over to the group. As soon as she was in distance, they circled her without Lila even telling them to.

God did she love a mob mentality.

“Marinette, why didn’t you ask us for help? If you were struggling with money we could’ve helped you.”

The poor girl looked confused as a chorus of ‘whys’ and ‘we love yous’ rang through the crowd. It was so satisfying to watch.

“Alya, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I need to go. He’s waiting on me.”

Marinette tried to break through the crowd, catching the man’s attention as he stood briskly as if on high alert. Lila watched as her spineless classmates let her go. She knew she had to act quickly. This was her only chance.

Rushing forward she grabbed Marinette’s hand forcing the girl to turn and face her.

“Marinette! We know you’re a sex worker! We just want to help you!”

The courtyard went silent as the girl’s face ashened. All eyes were on them as Lila forced a tear to roll. Marinette struggled to break her grasp, tears of her own forming.

“That’s not what I am Lila. Let go.” Her voice was shaking as she pulled, trying her best to run, but Lila’s grip was too strong.

Everyone stared between the two of them, waiting to see who would break first, but neither spoke, simply locking their eyes in a silent argument. Lila couldn’t understand. She expected more of a fight, not this shell of a woman. Had she really broken her already? Was that fear in her eyes? Pathetic.

The sound of footsteps echoed across the courtyard as the man marched toward the group.

“Quick, he’s coming to hurt Marinette! Stop him!”

Kim and Nino stepped in between the two girls and the oncoming force, but it was useless. With one sweep of his leg, both boys were on their backs, groaning in pain.

Slowly, recognition dawned on Lila as she watched this man cut through all of the people that stood in between him and the girls. Marinette wasn’t scared of her, she was scared for her. Lila couldn’t let go quick enough as she backstepped, trying to avoid the man’s strong pull.

“You.” His voice sent a chill to her core. Lila wanted to run but she was frozen in place.

In a second, he was looming over her, his glasses reflecting back to her the fear on her face.

“You are the harlot that has been bullying my beloved.”

Lila couldn’t utter a response. She tried to open her mouth, tried to defend herself, but it was useless.

“Let me get one thing straight. She is not some corner working whore. She is my girlfriend. The men you see her with are my family. Unfortunately, my time has been stolen by helping build a company from the ground up, but mark my words. If I hear her utter even a simple inconvenience brought onto her by you, I will make your life miserable for the rest of your sorry existence.”

Nobody moved forward to help her. Nobody came to her defense besides Marinette whose efforts to pull him away appeared to be futile. The only thing Lila could do was nod.

Fortunately, that seemed to satisfy him. He turned into Marinette’s arms as she walked him briskly out of the building, neither looking back as the girl fell to her knees, her legs no longer finding the strength to stand.

Marinette placed a small kiss on his cheek, trying to calm him down as they exited.

“I’m sorry mon coeur, I didn’t know family bonding was going to cause such a commotion. I mean sex worker, I don’t even want to know how she managed to convince them of that.”

Damian grumbled a response as he handed her a helmet before helping her onto the bike.

“All that matters is that she should never bother you again beloved.”

Marinette let out a harsh laugh as she glanced into the courtyard where the girl was still frozen, collapsed onto the ground.

Who knew Family Bonding would be Lila Rossi’s downfall?


	7. Heroes Don't Kill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> July 13th Death Prompt for Jasonette July on Tumblr

“Isn’t this fun Bug?”

Marinette rolled her eyes as she vaulted out of the way of the oncoming wave of attacks.

“I think we need to work on your definition of fun helmet head.”

His laugh echoed throughout the warehouse warming her heart at the pure joy in it. She decked the closest goon, stepping backwards to avoid the blood that squirted from his broken nose as she made her way to where Jason stood.

“Hey, afterwards do you wanna catch a movie? I think they’re screening the Wayne Documentary now.”

“Ha, like I would want to see that pompous manchild on the big screen.”

It was Marinette’s turn to giggle as she ducked letting the goon fly over her head and into Jason’s waiting fist. It was supposed to be a recon meeting for Batman, a possible Penguin hideout for the new drugs being pushed into Gotham City, but when Hood was involved, well, there was never much recon.

“They seem to be multiplying. I take down one and three more take its place. You think we should call for backup?”

“Psh, as if. Bug, it’s you and me, we can handle anything.”

Marinette shrugged as she stepped backwards, tripping the man that swung his knife in her direction. She knew that Jason didn’t want his family involved. After all, Batman wouldn’t let him blow this warehouse to bits, but he knew she would.

“I’m just saying Hood, I’m not above saying I told you so when we eventually become overrun.”

“Don’t I know it.”

They continued their assault on the men, sidestepping and doing everything in their power to avoid killing them. The one set back to working with Ladybug was her no killing policy was stricter than Batman’s, but hey, Jason would take it if it meant he could finish off the rest of his goals.

“Bug, I think it’s time we had the talk.”

Marinette risked a glance in his direction as she flipped over the nearest goon.

“Right now? I thought we agreed to talk about it later.”

Her yo-yo shot out almost instinctively as it wrapped around the knife behind Jason’s head, disarming the man in one swing.

“Well, technically it is later and right now I’m on an adrenaline high and it’s just what I needed to ask you.”

She felt her heart beating in her throat as she slowly cut through the goons until her back was pressed firmly against his.

“What did you want to ask me?”

She relished in the warmth of his back digging into hers with every punch he threw.

“Well, I think we should get married you know? Settle down, get out of this life and just be us.”

Marinette punched her last goon before turning to watch Jason take out his last one as well.

“Are you serious Hood? Don’t joke with me about this.”

He turned slowly to face her, his hand raising to rub the back of his neck sheepishly as he stared down at the petite girl.

“I’m very serious Bug. I love you.”

Marinette didn’t think twice as she threw off his helmet. Using her burst of adrenaline, she grasped his face with both hands crashing his lips into her own. The shock slowly wore off as she felt his arms snake around her waist lifting her to her tiptoes. Pulling back, his face was as giddy as she felt, the love sick smile shaking her to her core.

“So is that a yes?”

Marinette didn’t get the chance to answer. She heard the sound before she could register what was happening. Jason threw her to the ground as she watched the bullet pierce right above where his heart should be. It felt like time slowed as she dove forward to catch him before his head slammed into the ground.

Already, the blood began seeping through his suit as she desperately slammed her hand into his chest trying to add as much pressure as she could to the wound. Her free hand shook as she reached for her comm, her eyes searching the room for where the shooter could have come from.

“Red, you there? We need backup now, Jason’s been shot.”

The comm was silent and for a moment, the dreadful thought of being out of range crossed through her mind. There was no way she could maintain the pressure and fight off the shooter at the same time.

“Bug, did I hear you right? Is the mighty duo asking for help?”

His playful tone set off a fire in the pits of her stomach as her eyes narrowed in on a dark figure in the corner of the warehouse seemingly reloading his gun.

“Red, get here now.”

Before he could answer, she threw the comm from her ear, doing her best to reach for the nearest gun that had been dropped during their assault without letting go of his chest. His strangled coughs fueled her rage as she watched the figure step forward aiming right at her.

“I’m sorry helmet head but I need to let go for one second, do you think you can apply pressure for me?”

She waited until she saw a weak nod from the man she loved. As quickly as she could, she released his chest placing both hands on the gun. She fired two shots, one to knock the gun from the man’s hand, the second to wound his leg. The man fell with a grunt grabbing his leg.

It wouldn’t stop his assault but perhaps it would give Tim enough time to get there. Turning her attention back to Jason, her heart froze at the small trickle of blood from his mouth.

“Hood, hood, stay with me. Tell me about this future you wanted for us. You wanted to leave this life behind right?”

He didn’t respond, instead he simply smiled, trying his best to muffle his coughing as more blood began to flow from his lips.

“You cannot die on me now Jason. I love you. I love you so much. We’ll get out of this, we can handle anything. Of course I’ll marry you. Maybe we’ll have a kid or two. But we have to get out of this now. Jason, please.”

His eyes began to flutter shut, Marinette’s cries falling on deaf ears. With much effort, he reached up, his hand cupping her cheek. With a shaking hand, Marinette reached up to cup his hand, relishing in the feeling of the warmth it provided. Letting go, she watched as his hand fell hitting his chest with a sickening thud.

“Jason?” Her voice cracked as she reached down with two fingers, gently pressing against his neck. She swallowed hard as she counted to three before letting her fingers move to his eyes, gently tugging them shut.

A cold barrel pressed into the back of her head, but she couldn’t be bothered to care.

“You killed him.”

The goon never had a chance to respond. With one quick jab of her elbow to the spot she had shot, the man collapsed. The gun was swept from his hand as it pittered across the room. Marinette pinned him down, her hands searching for Jason’s helmet that she had dropped just minutes earlier. Raising it above her head, she brought it down hard on the man’s face.

“You killed him!”

The second time was rougher, the man already flickering out of consciousness as his fearful eyes watched her raise the helmet again.

“Wait, you’re one of the good guys, you don’t kill!”

Marinette paused, the helmet still raised high above her head. He was right, she didn’t kill, but one glance at the bloodied body behind her and every righteous thought left her mind. Her eyes darkened much to the fear of the man below her.

“Not tonight.”

… … … … … … … … …

Tim dropped in through the hole in the ceiling, his bowstaff ready to beat down anyone in his vicinity. He took a moment to assess the situation before he stepped over the many bodies, all out cold. Two figures sat huddled in the middle of the room, neither moving.

“Ladybug? Hood? Is that you guys?”

The smaller of the figures looked up, her face a mixture of blood and sweat. Wait, not sweat, tears.

“You’re too late Red. He’s gone.”

Tim let out a small gasp as he stared at Jason’s limp body pulled into Marinette’s lap. The bullet hole appeared to be in his chest, right above his heart, which meant it was slow and painful. He swallowed hard as he took another step forward.

Abruptly he stopped as his boot squished underfoot. His eyes glanced down to a sickening sight. Some man had been beaten to death, his face disfigured by something large hit into him multiple times. His eyes trailed to Hood’s helmet laid gently beside the man, blood already beginning to dry.

His stomach churned as his eyes met Marinette’s bloodshot ones.

“Bug, you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t kill him.”

She cast her gaze down to Jason’s bloodied face as she took her free hand, trying to push some of the blood from his beautiful mouth.

“I told you so. Jason I told you we needed backup. I told you.”

“Marinette, did you kill this man?”

“He killed Jason.” Her tone was icy as she snapped her attention back to Tim’s face.

“Marinette that doesn’t-”

“Don’t fucking lecture me Tim! What if it had been Stephanie? Huh? You all say you wouldn’t, but you’ve never had your heart torn from your chest in front of you. He proposed! We were supposed to get married, leave this life behind.”

Her tears ricocheted off his face as she brought him closer to her chest, trying to squeeze some of her life into him. Tim wasn’t sure what to do as he crouched down beside the two of them. Reaching out slowly, he placed a hand on her back slowly pulling her into his chest as her tears came down heavier.

He wasn’t sure where it had all gone wrong, her words rang through his ears clearly.

‘You all say you wouldn’t..’

No, he knew he wouldn’t. Regardless of how painful it would’ve been, after all, they were heroes right.

And heroes didn’t kill, right?


	8. The Sidekick Curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: So I love your sibling jasonette stuff and was wondering if you wouldnt mind writing more? Bonus if Mari gets hurt and Jason gets overprotective, sorry I just love angst tho. Your writing is amazing tho!

Marinette was having a pretty good day overall.

Batman had finally accepted her in his city as his protegee which meant she could permanently spend time with Jason. She was so excited to tell him the good news that his killer stare completely went over her head.

“Turn him down.”

Marinette’s jaw went slack as she stared at Jason’s unmoving scowl.

“But Jaybird, you know this has been my dream ever since I moved to the States! Plus it means he’ll stop trying to kick me out of Gotham! We’ll finally get to spend more time together!”

Jason didn’t answer. Instead he crossed his arms standing firmly in his former position.

“I can’t believe you don’t want me around!”

“Marinette that’s not it-”

“Then what is it?” She hadn’t meant to snap at him but as his eyes hardened, she slowly began to feel the guilt waves rolling in. “I’m sorry Jason, I know he’s not your favorite person but it’ll be different. You were just a kid-”

“You’re just a kid Marinette.” His stare had every fiber in her body screaming to turn and run, but instead something just snapped.

“I’m eighteen Jason. It’s my decision to work with Batman so that I can handle the next big threat that comes my way. I don’t know why I even told you in the first place.”

Jason’s eyes softened as he watched her turn to leave. He didn’t reach out to stop her and somehow, that just made the pain worse. Marinette picked up her pace as she dove into the nearest alleyway to transform. Swinging her yo-yo, she vaulted onto the roof, rolling to a stop before turning on her comm.

“Red, give me a mission, anything. I need to get out of here.”

… … … … … … … … … … …

Marinette dropped down into the port keeping her eyes peeled for where Batman could be hiding. Tim told her that he might need backup but to do her best to stay out of his way, only intercept if necessary.

The problem with that? Marinette had no idea where Batman was, so how was she supposed to be his back-up?

A small yelp caught her attention as she pressed her back flat against the nearest line of containers trying to stay in the shadows. Before she could contemplate moving a cold barrel pressed into the back of her head.

“Well, well, well, What do we have here? You’re not a batbrat.”

Marinette swallowed hard readying herself to disarm him the moment she saw an opening.

“No, I’m not. I’m Lady Luck.”

“Really, that’s the best you got little girl?”

Marinette slammed her heel into his foot while using her hand to push the gun into the air right as he fired. With one twist of his wrist, he dropped the gun allowing her to kick it far away.

“Look I’m trying here. I just need a new name and it’s really hard ya feel?”

The man swallowed as Marinette flung her whole weight into the man tackling them both to the ground. Using his dazed state to her aadvantage, she pushed off the ground into a sprint.

Batman was so going to kill her.

She heard the footsteps closing in behind her as she shot her yo-yo into the night sky hoping to catch onto anything to pull her away. Her feet landed on the nearest container with a soft thud watching as the men ran right past where she sat.

“You’re in over your head princess.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed as her hand reached up to where her comm sat.

“Jason, this is a closed network, how are you even on it?”

“Timmy boy owed me a favor and now I’m paying it forward to you. Get out of there. Batman already left and if those men find you, you’re dead.”

Batman already left? Had she missed the signal Tim told her to look for? Maybe she really wasn’t ready for recon. She slowly stood ready to turn when a flash of dark fabric caught her attention.

Batman hadn’t left, he was right there, and he was surrounded.

“You lied Jason? Do you really hate him that much that you want to see him dead?”

Marinette was fuming as she swung toward where her hero stood, dropping in front of the man as the first round of shots were fired. She easily deflected them leaving several shocked men at the fact that they both still stood.

“Thanks.” Marinette’s gaze flickered to Batman’s in a frantic manner. Had she imagined that? Did Batman just thank her? Oh this day was just getting better.

“Lady Luck!”

Marinette didn’t get the chance to throw her yo-yo up as a bullet pierced her stomach. The pain was unbearable as she collapsed to the ground grasping at the trickle of blood as the shock spread through her body.

She wasn’t quite sure what happened next, all she could see was a fuzzy darkness clouding her vision before everything went dark,

… … … … … … … … … … … .  
“Where is she?”

Jason burst through the manor doors not even bothering to utter more than a hey. He was on a warpath and anyone who stood in his way be damned.

“Master Jason-”

“Listen Alfred,” Jason’s hand was in Alfred’s face as the butler simply raised an eyebrow at his antics. “I respect you, that’s the only reason you’re not on the ground right now but I need to know where she is, now.”

Alfred simply shook his head motioning Jason forward toward the secret entrance. Without a sign of gratitude, Jason marched forward, practically tearing the door off its hinges. Entering the batcave, he felt as if he had been sucker punched in the gut. All the air in his lungs deflated at the sight of the blood that covered the medtable.

Standing over her was Bruce himself, Tim and some doctor talked off to the side, their faces both grimm.

“You piece of shit!” Jason’s fist acted on its own as it connected with Bruce’s jaw. The man staggered backwards holding out a hand as if trying to slow him down. Pathetic.

“You just had to take her under your wing, give her that good ole sidekick curse huh?”

Jason landed another punch, Bruce not even attempting to stop the assault.

“You just break us all down until we leave or die trying!”

He threw his fist again but this time it never connected. Instead, Tim stood between the two of them, slightly struggling to withhold Jason’s fist.

“Jason, you’re not going to help her by beating him up. He already feels bad enough. We didn’t know the limits of her suit until tonight, she’ll recover eventually.”

Jason opened his mouth to retaliate when he heard her. It was soft, almost inaudible, but he could swear that she was calling to him. He tried to take a step forward, but the labcoat got in his way.

“Sir I think you should take a moment and calm down before approaching the patient.”

Jason attempted to side step the man, but he simply moved with him still blocking him from Marinette. He felt his fist curling as the doctor side stepped once more, still in his way. His hands darted out as he lifted the doctor from the ground by his crumbled lab coat.

“Listen here, that’s my sister right there and she needs me. Move or be moved, I could care less.”

Without much care, he dropped the doctor as he made his way to Marinette’s side. Crouching down to her eye level, he carefully gathered her hand, squeezing it tightly.

“I’m here Marinette, I won’t let you leave me, you hear? You’re stuck with me forever.”

His eyes darted toward the three men as if daring them to disagree, daring them to try and move him.

For weeks he stayed right by her side, never leaving for more than ten minutes at a time. Slowly he watched her recover as she practiced stretching, then walking and eventually running once more.

“Jaybird, I think I’m almost ready to get back to it.”

His smile was solemn. Nobody had the heart to tell her that there was no way Bruce would let her back out again. Not while Jason was still breathing. But that was a conversation for another day. For now, he was just glad that she was still alive.

“Almost princess, almost.”


	9. Family Game Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @moonlitjiminie asked: I love your sibling Jasonette so much!! If you don't mind, could you do Marinette's first meeting with the rest of the Batfam? Also, this is probably a stupid question but are the rest of the sibling Jasonette stories connected?
> 
> (Totally wrote them so that you could read them as one continuous story with overlapping events if you want by the way :))

“What if they don’t like me?”

Jason stopped in his tracks, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Is that even a real question that you’re asking me? I’m honestly offended right now that you would even think they had an option to not like you.”

He dramatically placed his hand over his heart as if her words had fatally wounded him earning a small giggle from the girl. Slinging his arm over her shoulder, she managed to breathe a small sigh of relief as they made their way up the long staircase.

Jason didn’t even bother knocking as he threw open the manor doors, effectively dragging her in with him.

“Master Jason, what a pleasure to see you attend family game night and with a guest in tow, how lovely.”

An older man stood in the foyer, his sly smile warming Marinette to the core instantly. Jason narrowed his eyes playfully at the man, a sly smile of his own tugging at his lips.

“Marinette, let me introduce you to the only sane person in this household. Mr. Alfred Pennyworth. He likes to pretend he’s just a humble butler, but we all know that he secretly runs the whole thing around here.”

Alfred bowed deeply to Marinette to which she could only curtsey in return.

“It’s a pleasure, sir. I am sorry for invading your family time. I was under the impression that my presence was a known factor tonight.” Her narrowed eyes shot to Jason who simply shrugged, his smirk as arrogant as ever.

“Nonsense, a friend of Master Jason is a friend to all. You are by far the most pleasant friend he has brought to this event.”

Marinette almost wanted to ask about the context of his remark, but something in her gut told her she really didn’t want to know.

“Please, follow me to the sitting room. The rest of the family has already arrived.”

They walked in a comfortable silence down the hall, Marinette nerves slightly frayed now knowing that nobody expected her appearance. Alfred pushed open two oak doors, revealing a brightly lit room filled with many laughing faces. When Jason said he had a lot of siblings, Marinette thought two or three. Nothing could have prepared her for this.

“Oh my god, Jason brought home a girl!”

Instantly all sounds in the room paused as many heads turned their attention to where Marinette stood in the doorway. Hesitantly, she raised her hand in greeting, a sheepish smile gracing her face.

“Everyone, this is Marinette, the legendary designer MDC, and my sister. She’s flown all the way from Paris to meet you losers for some reason so be nice.”

Marinette mumbled a quiet hello as a few smiles broke through the room welcoming her. Instantly, a blonde girl jumped up to drag her back to where she was previously sitting, ignoring Jason’s protests.

“You just have to play on my team tonight! Are you any good at Pictionary? I mean I’m not great, but I can say with utmost confidence that I can beat most of the people in this room.”

“That’s not true!” Marinette’s attention was split as one of the men started an argument with her as to who was the better pictionary-ist. She didn’t even notice when Jason had sat beside her, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

“The rude blonde is Stephanie Brown. She’s Timmy boys girlfriend, who would be the dead zombie looking kid over there.”

Marinette’s gaze followed to where Jason pointed, a small giggle escaping at his accurate description. The poor boy looked like he hasn’t gotten a good night’s sleep a single day in his life. 

“The rude boy arguing with Stephanie would be Dick. He practically rivals your optimism except his happy go lucky actually disgusts me.”

The man paused from his argument, a horrified expression on his face.

“I like to think my optimism is a blessing.”

That earned a collective groan from the room to which he simply crossed his arms into a pout.

“Anyways, continuing, the redhead is Barbara Gordon-Grayson who unfortunately has trapped herself in the position of Dick’s wife. A tragedy really for such a beautiful woman, I mean she could’ve had me and instead she chose him? The world just isn’t right.”

Another protest came from Dick’s direction as he turned his pout into Barbara’s outstretched arms as her attempt to not laugh failed miserably.

“The one staring you down while trying to pretend he’s not interested at the same time would be your future husband Damian.”

Marinette felt her entire face flush red as she reached back slapping Jason in the stomach as hard as he could.

“Todd, I do not appreciate harassing this young woman. You are beneath her in status and beauty therefore you should not be allowed to get off with this insult to her self so easily.”

Damian stood from his spot, careful not to make eye contact with Marinette as he sped past her toward the room’s only exit. She wanted to call out and ask him to stay, but the pink on his cheeks caused her to pause. He probably was just as embarrassed as her and just needed some time to breathe.

“Jason, that was mean! Look at how flustered you made him!”

Jason simply laughed as he reached over to ruffle her hair.

“Trust me, he never gets ‘flustered’ that was all you.”

For the second time that night, Marinette felt her face flush.

“He’s right you know!” Her eyes turned back to the blonde from earlier who stared her down with a playful expression in her eyes. “Demon spawn definitely has a crush on you.”

The rest of the family took turns picking at her, taking jabs until she was sure there wasn’t one part of her that wasn’t bloodshot red.

“Alright, alright, give the girl some space. We want her to return eventually!”

Marinette smiled gratefully toward the dark-haired man.

“After all, I need to get to know my future daughter-in-law.”

She instantly regretted her friendly gesture as the room exploded once more, smiles and laughter filling the room. Why exactly had she let Jason talk her into this?

“Okay, okay, really though guys. It’s game night! Time to pick team captains.”

Stephanie’s devilish smile sent shivers through Marinette’s spine. It was purely chaotic, reminding her of another blonde that she had left behind.

“I vote Marinette and Jason, the ultimate sibling showdown!” Dick puffed out his chest as his voice mimicked what sounded suspiciously like a wrestling ref that her father loved to watch.

“I’m down, how about you princess?”

Marinette bit her lip as her eyes glanced around the room at their waiting faces. Her eyes caught sight of one brooding face that she couldn’t seem to pass by. He also seemed to be waiting, his eyes nervously glancing from her position to the door as if he might bolt at any moment.

“It’s game on Todd.”

They shook their hands defiantly, both wearing dangerous smirks. Maybe she could salvage her pride tonight; not just hers’ but Damian’s as well.  
… … … … … … … … . .

“Ladies first.”

Marinette and Jason stood on opposite sides of the room, both watching each other with an intense look that came from their competitive natures. She scanned the eager faces of his family thoughtfully. She had no idea what any of them were good at, but she wanted to maintain appearance for the psych of it.

“Damian.”

Everybody broke out into smirks as they shared knowing looks. She didn’t bother to pay them any mind as the pink-cheeked boy rose to stand with her.

“Wrong move princess, demon spawn hates game night more than he likes to win. My first choice? Stephanie.”

The girl pumped her fist in the air as she joined Jason on his side. Marinette leaned toward where Damian stood, hiding half her face behind her hand.

“Time to strategize, who is my best bet?”

Damian stared at her with a bewildered expression.

“C’mon beau garçon, I need your help if we’re gonna kick Jason’s ass.”

He nodded slowly as if that were a perfectly reasonable excuse to kick into gear.

“Grayson is the leading contender if you wish to win tonight.”

Marinette nodded as she motioned for Dick to join them as well. Jason raised an eyebrow at her as he called over Tim, challenging her to pick from the remaining two.

“Okay Damian, Barbara or Bruce.”

He didn’t bother responding as he pointed at his father, leaving the redhead to Jason’s team.

It was five hours of intense games, Alfred keeping score as an unaffiliated third party,( after all, they had all agreed that he was the fairest way to keep the games moving.) They all sat in anticipation while he tallied the scores. She couldn’t seem to calm her nerves as she stared at Jason’s cocky smirk.

Marinette felt a warmth brush by her kneecap. Instantly her head snapped to where a hand rested before her gaze reached back up to his face, a light red dusting across her cheeks. Immediately his hand retracted.

“I’m sorry if that was inappropriate, your knee was just bouncing anxiously from the corner of my eye and it was a slight bother.”

Marinette muttered out a small sorry before they both broke their gaze, the blush evident on both of their cheeks.

“And with a final score of 5-4, the winning team is… Miss Marinette!”

Her whole team jumped from the couch in excitement. Without thinking, she threw her arms around Damian’s neck. Realization crossed her face as she quickly retracted her hug, her entire face as red as could be. God, she hadn’t been this much of a blushing mess since she was thirteen.

They all chatted idly for a few minutes before Jason finally intercepted, insisting he had to get her back to her apartment before it got too late. The whole family waved her goodbye, minus one red-faced teen who instead handed her a small piece of paper as discreetly as he could, ignoring the taunts from his family behind his back.

As they drove back to her apartment, Marinette couldn’t hold her excitement anymore.

“I don’t know why you were warning me so much, I think I’m in love with your family Jason.”

His familiar smirk sat on his face as he turned into the apartment’s lot.

“I told you they were going to love you, and what do you know? I didn’t even have to give Damian your number, you two worked it out on your own. I truly believe they are planning out your wedding right now.”

Marinette shook her head as she reached over the console to hug Jason tightly before stepping out of the car. She wanted to deny accusations of what happened tonight, but she knew it would just fuel his picking.

Besides, even she couldn’t deny that she was excited for the next family game night and if she saw a certain Wayne there, well, that really wouldn’t be so bad.


	10. Career Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @long-lost-peace asked: Hey. Can you write one where the batfam visits Marinette at school and the class is just plain surprised and chaos ensues. You can include any salt (if yes, preferably Alya and a jealous Adien). Ship is daminette with sibling Jasonette or something like that. Thanks

“-And it was just terrible Damian! Lila literally stood in front of the class and told them how she tried to get you all to come for career week, but that you all were just so busy in Thailand on a business trip that you just didn’t see how you could make it.”

Damian chuckled at his exasperated girlfriend. He knew how agitated this sausage haired woman made her, but his laughter couldn’t be helped. After all, every time she enters a rant, her little nose scrunches up in the cutest way that he couldn’t help but compare to the hamster she’s always wanted.

“Damiannnn, this isn’t funny! I was literally going to ask Dick if he could come for Friday’s session, Madame Bustier knew that too! So for her to step up and claim that it was all her idea? Gods, now he can’t even come because everyone will praise her for ‘convincing’ him to show up.”

“I know my love, what if father and I show up instead? Dick is on a business trip in Thailand right now, attempting to expand the company into further international business, but I’m sure even he would drop the meeting if you asked.”

Marinette let out a sigh as she slunk down into her seat, only the top of her head visible in the laptop camera.

“I know he would, but I’m retracting my ask. I really don’t want to deal with the backlash. Besides, it’s getting late. Chat will be expecting me for patrol in an hour and I haven’t even started my homework yet.”

Damian nodded as they said their goodbyes before signing off his computer. His hand absentmindedly reached for the small token the Marinette had given him just last summer. It was a river stone that she had engraved with the name he had first called her; Hobi.

He spun the stone several times before gently setting it back in its rightful spot. If he wanted to help his love, then he was going to need more chaotic energy than his own. Picking up his phone, Damian dialed a number he had learned by heart over the years. The phone had barely rung twice before the man answered.

“What up demon spawn? Ready to cause some trouble for dear old dad?”

Damian rolled his eyes trying not to imagine what Jason could’ve possibly meant. Instead, he turned his focus to the task at hand.

“This is more important Todd. Marinette needs our help.”

There was a momentary pause on the other side of the phone and for a brief second, Damian was tempted to check to see if Jason had accidentally hung up on him. (it wouldn’t have been the first time.) He was both relieved and perplexed when a sound rang through the background that was suspiciously similar to a gun being loaded.

“Well, why didn’t you start with that Damian? Who exactly do I have to kill?”

… … … … … … … … … … … …

Career week couldn’t come to an end fast enough for Marinette. Hearing Lila’s false tears over her Damiboo and favorite brother-in-law not being able to make it despite her constant begging was both infuriating and a bit nauseating. She was almost certain that if Damian heard the word Damiboo uttered in a half-mile radius of himself, he would bring down his sword on that person’s neck.

“Alright class, settle down.” Madame Bustier walked into the room, an ear-splitting grin accompanying her. “We have a few very special guests to finish off this Career Week. In fact, one of your own classmates made this meeting happen!”

The class muttered excitedly as all eyes landed on Lila in the front row. Marinette placed her head on her desk, ignoring Adrien’s hand attempting to rub calming circles in her back. She was 100% done with this week.

“Please welcome Bruce Wayne and his associates here to talk about the world of Entrepreneurship.”

Several jaws hit the desks as Bruce walked in, Jason and Damian in tow, all wearing bright smiles. Marinette sat up so fast that her back crushed Adrien’s hand into the bench behind them.

“Ouch, excited much my lady?”

Marinette ignored his teasing as her eyes narrowed in on her boyfriend standing in the front of the room, an absolute shit-eating grin gracing his face.

“Oh no.” Adrien followed her stare down to the boy in the front of the room, instantly feeling a dislike for him. If his lady was uncomfortable, then so was he.

“Thank you for having me Madame Bustier and on such short notice. I realize that Marinette said it would only be my son Dick Grayson, but seeing as he was away for a business trip, I just knew I couldn’t leave our favorite Parisian high and dry.”

There was an instant silence across the room as all eyes turned from where Lila sat in the front row to where Marinette sat in the back. She wanted to shrink in her seat and disappear from the number of people looking at her, but it felt impossible.

“Anyways, I would like to start my presentation by stating-”

“Excuse me, sir!” Alya’s hand shot into the air, her stare intense as some of Gotham’s finest.

“Uhm I haven’t covered any information yet Miss, did you have a question about my flight?”

A few chuckles sounded throughout the classroom, but that didn’t seem to stop Alya as she stood, her arms crossed in front of her body.

“I believe you owe my best friend an apology. Marinette didn’t get you here, Lila did.”

Bruce’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked back to where Jason and Damian stood.

“I didn’t get your girlfriend’s name wrong, did I, Damian?”

Damian shook his head, his grin pulling into a smirk as his eyes met Marinette’s.

“I would hope you didn’t father. After all, you have known her for years now.”

Bruce nodded thoughtfully as if considering Damian’s information as a possibility.

“So as I was saying, thanks to Marinette-”

“You mean Lila? Damian, how could you mix up your own fiancee with a shell of a human being like Marinette.”

Damian took a step forward, one hand on his shoulder holding him back as Jason sent a wink in his direction.

“Madame Bustier, if I understood right, Brucie here offered a free trip for your class to the Thailand location this winter if they could sit through just one measly presentation. Are you really going to let this rude child ruin that for the rest of the class?”

Bustier’s smile wavered as she turned her attention to where Alya sat, motioning for her to sit and zip her lips. With a great huff of annoyance, Alya compiled.

“Excellent, now that we can begin-”

“I’m just saying, Mr. Wayne. Lila did all this hard work, attended all your charity functions, helped your city’s heroes, and is betrothed to your son. How could you not recognize her?”

Madame Bustier tried to wave Alya down once more but it was useless.

“Alya, is it?” the girl nodded confidently as she slung her arm around Lila’s shoulders. “I suggest that whoever this Lila person is, you should reconsider your friendship with her. If you or she were caught spreading rumors about another billionaire besides myself, you might not make it off so easily. We take defamation very seriously as it could hurt our empires. Take that as lesson one for Entrepreneurship; always know who you’re working with.”

Alya’s mouth gaped like a fish out of water as she slipped back down into her seat, her eyes burning holes into the side of Lila’s head. With the new peace, Bruce continued his presentation with the full attention of the rest of the class. When the time came for questions, every hand but two were raised high.

“How about you sir? The blonde in the back beside Marinette.”

Adrien stood, his eyes narrowed in on Damian.

“You said the first lesson was to always know who you’re working with, well, did you know that your son is a liar?”

Another round of hushed whispers echoed through the room as Adrien took the first step down toward the front of the classroom. Bruce cocked his head to the side as he instinctively put out a hand to catch Damian before he could move forward.

“How would you justify that kid?”

Adrien stepped closer, his posture rigid as his stare never left Damian’s face.

“Well, he’s been telling you that he’s been dating Marinette, but that is a lie. Marinette is my girlfriend.”

Damian’s fist curled as Jason took a step to intercept the two boys.

“I think you forgot to put a space between the girl and friend sir. You see, demon spawn here and pixie pop up there are together, no space. You and pixie pop are just friends.”

Everyone’s eyes shifted uneasily between the men, unsure of who was going to strike first. No one was given the chance as Marinette raced down the stairs, pulling Bustier to the side. Her whispers were harsh and rushed and when she pulled back, all the color from the teacher’s face had drained.

“That’s enough Adrien, I wouldn’t want to bother your father over an inconvenience like this.”

The boy’s mouth closed tightly as he turned his attention to where Marinette stood, a sudden feeling of nausea coursing through him. Did she really just pull that card here? In front of everyone?

He couldn’t say a word as he marched back to his seat, ignoring the many questions that were thrown his way.

“Well, I’m sorry to everyone that had real questions, but this stunt seemed to have taken up all of my time. Madam Bustier, do you mind if I check Marinette out of school early?”

The teacher could only nod as the men swept Marinette out of the room before she could protest. She waited until they had reached the car before turning on the men, hitting each of them as hard as she could. Three simultaneous ow’s sounded through the courtyard.

“Pixie pop, what was that for?” Jason’s whining was shut down instantly with one cold look.

“I told you all not to come! You totally just made everything worse.”

Bruce risked a step forward as he pulled her into a hug.

“Marinette, you mean the world to this family. Defamation to the Wayne family needs to be shut down instantly. That Alya girl is bad for your emotional state, the Lila one as well.”

Marinette tried to deny his accusations, but Bruce refused to hear any of it. He pulled back, opening the door to push Jason inside, slamming it shut before he could fight back. With the other two gone, Marinette was forced to face her boyfriend.

“Hobi-”

“Don’t start with your cute nicknames. What was that scene with Adrien?”

“He was the jealous one! I can’t help if he tried to attack me.” Damian crossed his arms in defiance, ignoring the daggers Marinette’s eyes were shooting.

“You know he’s just a friend mon amour, you are the only one I want.”

Damian grumbled under his breath as he allowed himself to be pulled into Marinette’s embrace. After a few minutes, he pulled back, a curiosity overtaking his face.

“What did you say to the teacher to cause her to stifle Agreste?”

Marinette’s smile was devilish. It would almost be cute if it wasn’t so terrifying.

“I just reminded her that defamation was taken very seriously and that if she didn’t stop Adrien, he could have started a full-blown legal battle between two very powerful men, leaving the school and her job in the crossfires.”

Damian placed a kiss on her forehead before moving towards the car.

“Hobi, you amaze me at every turn.”

Marinette rolled her eyes as she allowed him to help her into the car. She would deny till her last breath that she was grateful for that particular Career Day, but the one thing she couldn’t deny was how much she loved the Wayne boys.


	11. The Cycle Of Never-Ending First Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: could you do another fic where mari has too many overprotective relatives (batfam, jason in particular, adrien, luka, kagami, chloe, jagged, bruce, penny, clara, tony stark and the avengers maybe lol) and all the boys who want to date her are scared away by them until she starts seeing damian or someone else i love your writing and thanks! ♡♡

“No! Wait! He’s just kidding!” Marinette ran out of the building trying to grab the boy's hand before he could escape, but she was too late. Her hand slapped her forehead in defeat as yet another man hurried off before they could even order drinks. Turning her attention to where her target stood, she couldn’t help the bubbling anger directed at his smirk.

“Why must you ruin every date? It’s like you guys have a pool of names and you just reach in and see who's in luck to scare off the next guy that tries to date me!” She threw her hands into the air, only earning a chuckle.

“C’mon Princess, if the man can’t handle a little threat then how is he gonna stick around for the long term? Hmm?”

Marinette wanted to argue, but she knew it was pointless. Jason and the others were firm in their beliefs; Marinette must be protected from heartbreak at all costs. She tried arguing with them that if she never got hurt in the first place then she could never learn, but alas, her words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

“How did you even find us?”

Jason’s smirk widened which only fueled her rage.

“What? You thought meeting at the restaurant would actually change anything? I can find you anywhere and everywhere. Plus Adrien totally snitched.”

Marinette made a mental note to lay into Adrien later after she found the poor kid that Jason scared of.

“One day I’m going to find someone who isn’t scared by you lot and he’s gonna make it through the first date.”

She turned her back on Jason’s boisterous laughter. She was determined to prove her point. After all, there had to be one man in Gotham City that wasn’t afraid of her, right?  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   
The rest of her week had gone as smoothly as Monday had to say the least.

Tuesday’s date was crashed by Kagami’s foil. One look at her slicing the bread and he didn’t even make it to the table.

Wednesday’s date was a double date with Luka and Chloe. Marinette begged Tikki to lend her a little luck, but the small God would do no such thing. At least this guy made it past drinks. Marinette almost cheered until Luka donned his infamous stare. She watched as her date squirmed uncomfortably before excusing himself for the bathroom, never returning.

Thursday’s date ended with the man strung up by his ankles, none other than Nightwing and Red Robin dropping in to apologize, claiming they thought he was trying to mug her.

By Friday, she was ready to cancel her date before it even began.

“Adrien, you guys are making it impossible to even think about dating.” She collapsed on the couch, letting out a small whine.

“I think that’s kind of the point Mari, besides, you’re a working woman now, shouldn’t you be focusing on your career-”

Adrien paused as his eyes narrowed in on Marinette’s hand mocking his lecture. Her hand paused as she noticed his now silent voice. Meeting his eyes, she simply shrugged.

“You sound like my mom. She’s worried that I’m too worried about dating but guess what? I kind of missed out on that experience in high school pining after a guy who wasn’t even interested!”

They both chuckled as they remembered the awkward dance they both did from the time they were 13.

“So what are you going to do about the date tonight?”

Marinette shrugged once more as she pulled at a piece of her hair, twirling it around her finger.

“Who is on date duty tonight?”

“First of all, it’s not called date duty,” he waved off the pointed look Marinette gave him before continuing, “and it was supposed to be Jagged and Penny but in case they fail, Tony is on backup duty and Jason is on backup, backup duty.”

“Not date duty my ass.”

Marinette sighed longingly as she pulled herself into a sitting position.

“I’m giving this one more chance before I swear off dating forever.”

Adrien chuckled before offering his hand to pull her into a standing position.

“Well, guess you better prepare to look good. After all, they always say if you’re gonna go out, at least do it in style.”

Marinette rolled her eyes as she pushed Adrien to the couch, ignoring his protests. If this was going to be her last date, then maybe he had a point of going out in style.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Marinette pulled at her dress nervously as a black limo approached her outside of her apartment. She had checked the perimeter once as Marinette and once more as Ladybug; there was no sign of Jagged or Penny. Somehow though, that didn’t calm her nerves.

As the limo pulled to a stop, a man stepped out of the back seat causing her breath to hitch in her throat. As if him being drop-dead gorgeous wasn’t enough, her worst fears stepped out from behind him, wide grins on their faces.

“Oi, there she is Penny! Marinette, we tried calling you but you sent us straight to voicemail, that wasn’t very rock n’ roll of you. Luckily, this nice man right here was there to give us a ride, right Penny?”

Penny nodded sweetly as if the two of them were innocent victims of Marinette’s forgetfulness. She wanted to turn right back into her apartment and never leave again, but a small hand grasped hers, pulling it up to their lips, as soft and gentle as his movements.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I have heard many stories of you from my brothers and father. You seem to have impressed many powerful people such as the two strays I picked up off the streets earlier.”

His smile was playful as it coaxed a small laugh from her. It helped even more to see Jagged panicking in the background at the sight of the small gesture. This man, no, his name was Damian. Damian had already broken through the first wall without even knowing it. Marinette let herself feel a spark of hope at the thought of finally making it through a first date.

“Anywho, now that we have arrived, I must apologize for leaving you two here, how does the saying go? ‘High and dry?’ but I do have a date to continue.” He nodded to Penny and Jagged leaving them both with their jaws almost touching the ground.

If she had a moment, Marinette might’ve taken a photo, but she instead quickly grabbed Damian’s arm, shutting the limo door before either could protest. She didn’t bother to release the breath she had been holding until the apartments were gone from the rearview mirror.

“I am so sorry about them, they-” she tried to let the apology spill out of her mouth but Damian simply shook his head, that same playful smile monopolizing his face.

“I am fully aware of the so-called ‘date duty’ your friends have. After all, my brother is in charge of the scheduling.”

It was Marinette’s turn for her jaw to drop. This was Jason’s brother? The literal spawn of satan as Jason had put it. There was no way. He was so nice, and such a gentleman, there was no way they could be the same person.

“How come nobody ever told me you were in town? Last time Jason introduced me to the family, he made sure to wait for when you left on a business trip. I’ve only ever been invited over when you’re not there!”

Damian chuckled as if this was a normal occurrence.

“They knew I had a crush on you ever since I watched your alter ego take down an akuma three times your size. It was only a matter of time until I asked you out, but with Jason observing your every date, he made it quite difficult.”

Marinette felt her face flush as his words washed over her. A man that was actually interested in her and was willing to take on the trouble a date with her could mean? She lightly pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“You know it’s only going to get worse from here right? Like, Jagged and Penny were only the first round worse.”

Damian leaned in, placing his hand overtop hers, that smile of his killing her slowly.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Marinette nodded as she leaned closer, nearly closing the gap between them, her heart racing from the distance.

“I borrowed his rotation schedule and have prepared for every incident that could occur tonight.”

Marinette couldn’t help the words that slipped out of her mouth.

“I think I might love you.” Immediately she slapped her hand over her mouth letting out a string of apologies as she scooched away from the red-faced man. He cleared his throat, trying to overcome his shock as his smile pulled into a small smirk.

“Don’t apologize, just tell me again if you feel the same after we’ve finished the date.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Somehow, they managed to make it through dinner without a single hiccup. It was suspicious, but she was having too good of a time to care. She fell in love immediately with his animals as he showed off his many photos, commenting on whichever one seemed to make her melt the most.

They talked about where they had gone to college, where they were working now and what they were hoping for their futures. Marinette felt her heart swell with excitement for how compatible they were, it almost made tonight ending that much more painful.

As they stepped out of the restaurant, Marinette heard a familiar voice that made her blood run cold.

“Do you know who I am? I could buy this whole place and then you’d have to let me in! I’m the damn Ironman, doesn’t that count for something?”

The poor hostess was shaking her head, trying to apologize to the other guests for the wait he was causing. Marinette let out a defeated sigh as she took a step forward to intervene, but Damian’s hand intertwined with hers pulling her in the opposite direction.

“There aren’t too many places in Gotham City that Tony Stark isn’t banned from. However, you can thank my father for that. He agreed for me to host my dinner at his restaurant to nullify backup number 2, Tony Stark.”

Marinette almost wanted to laugh at the irony of a billionaire being banned from a small Italian restaurant in Gotham.

“There’s not much that Uncle Tony can’t fix by throwing money at it, but I suppose that’s pointless when it’s another billionaire causing the said problem.”

Damian sent her a wink that warmed her to her core. They decided to ditch the limo in favor of walking home, spending more time with each other coincidentally. Marinette felt her mind racing like she was in middle school once again planning her imaginary wedding and their future hamster.

He was everything she had hoped to find in a man and so much more. She honestly regretted not meeting him sooner, it would’ve saved her so much trouble over the years.

She opened her mouth, only to close it immediately as her eyes narrowed in on a figure leaning against her apartment building.

“Jason, what are you doing here? There’s no date to ruin now and I finally found a guy who can’t be scared off by your stupid date duty.”

She crossed her arms in defiance but Jason paid her no mind.

“Damian, I didn’t know you were home so soon. I would’ve locked you up in the Batcave to make sure this would’ve never happened.”

Damian scoffed beside her as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“As if you could.”

The two men were locked in a staredown, leaving Marinette to wilt in the tension that had formed. She moved towards her apartment, only to be stopped by Damian’s hand for the third time tonight.

Turning her back to Jason, she watched as she brought her hand to his lips, his kiss still as gentle and soft as the first when he had given her hours earlier. She ignored Jason’s protest as she pulled his hand forward placing a quick peck on his lips.

The man’s face matched her own in shades of red.

“Does this mean you would be interested in a second date?”

Marinette nodded furiously before waving him goodnight, darting past Jason’s brooding figure.

“This is not the end of it Marinette!”

Jason’s threats felt empty compared to the excitement racing in her heart. She had finally broken the cycle of never-ending first dates and boy, did it feel good.


	12. Love, Right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> vasiliassuns asked: aaaaa!! i love all these one shots so much:)! would it be any trouble to ask for the waynes (minus alfred, he knows all) being in paris to research ladybug and accidentally see marinette transform before watching her whoop ass? (i know theres a lot of fics with this in the damianette tag, but aa!! such a good trope,,,and your writing is awesome.) its totally cool if not! i also wanna add that im super excited for the next chapter:) seriously tho your writing is awesome and i adore it

If you had told Damian Al Ghul Wayne that he would discover the love of his life in a shotty alleyway in Paris, France, he would’ve laughed in your face. 

Yet there he was, his heart racing a million times a minute as he watched her swing into action sending the akumatized person sailing with a solid kick to their chest. 

_‘Flawless Execution, I couldn’t have done it better myself.’_

Damian ignored the crowds pushing against him trying to take cover in the nearest shelter. He knew that by now his family would’ve seen his transmission from the camera contacts that Barbara had provided them before leaving Gotham. They would also be racing toward the battle hoping to catch a glimpse of how these victims communicated with the notorious Hawkmoth. 

He turned the corner colliding into three other rushing bodies. 

They all fell to the ground with a groan, each holding their own heads with equal scowls directed at the others. Damian was the first to find his feet as he crossed her arms, glaring down on his mess of brothers. Three voices filled the alleyway simultaneously, all as panicked at the other. 

“Damian was that the coffee goddess-”

“Damian was that the flying angel from the acrobat gym-”

“Damian was that your girlfriend-”

Everyone silenced as their gazes shifted to where Jason stood. He only shrugged his shoulders in response, that familiar smirk pulling at his lips.

“She’s not my girlfriend Todd.” Damian tried to say it with the straightest face he could manage but he could do nothing to hide the red that had crept up his cheeks.

“Well, whatever she is doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the flying angel is Ladybug! That information would’ve been helpful earlier. We were already hanging out in civilian form, I mean, we could’ve been having our top-secret meetings without the masks!”

“Dick, some of us care about our secret identities unlike you.”

Dick pouted as Tim elbowed his side. 

“All I’m saying is that if she can trust me to catch her 40 feet above the ground, then she should be able to trust me with her secret identity.”

“It’s not like she knows our identity’s Richard.” Damian narrowed his eyes at the older boy essentially silencing his continuous whining. “Besides, she probably didn’t want to harm us. If we showed care for her superheroine side, then Hawkmoth could try to attack us to get to her.”

Jason flailed his hand around mocking Damian’s speech behind his head earning a giggle from the others. Damian’s whole face flushed red as he tried to count backward from 10 to avoid killing Jason. 

A blur of red landed in front of him, her slightly flushed face staring above them, as determined as ever. 

_“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”_

Her eyes darted down to meet his, a slightly surprised look crossing her face. 

“Gentlemen, please return to the shelter. It’s not safe right now.”

The boys stared at each other, calculating their best chances of regrouping if they split now. She swung off before she heard their answer shielding them from the oncoming blow. Damian wanted to rush to her side and help her back to her feet but it wasn’t the right moment.

As they made their way back toward the shelter, Damian’s mind was racing a million times a minute. 

The quiet girl with a load of sass who helped him study French couldn’t be the bold superheroine who fought crime on a daily basis right? It seemed illogical. 

Yet the more he thought about it, the more he could see it. The way she stood up in class to Chloe and Lila whenever they attacked him, the way she could maneuver around every situation within mere seconds of seeing how it would play out, the way those same blue eyes would shine with determination when she knew she was the smartest one in the room and was only being challenged to prove it. 

“I’m so stupid.”

“Wait, can you say that again? I wanna make it my ringtone.”

Damian stuck his foot out as he skidded to a stop taking joy in seeing Todd tumble to the ground, a satisfying rip coming from his new leather jacket.

“Ah, c’mon man, it was just a joke!”

A small scream of terror caught their attention. A girl stood in the middle of the cobblestone, clinging to a stuffed bear, the Akuma looming over her as if ready to strike. Damian knew he couldn’t make it quick enough, but damn if he wasn’t going to try.

The Akuma's hand came down before he had even moved an inch, a sickening smack turning Damian’s stomach. As the dust cleared, Damian raced forward, intent on beheading any man who dared to lay hands on a child so small, but the Akuma was nowhere in sight.

The only thing that was left was a breathless Ladybug, dropped to her knees in front of the small girl, a white butterfly fluttering into the sky. 

“Mar-Ladybug!”

Her head perked up at the sound of Damian’s voice as he fell beside her, checking her over for any injuries. 

“I’m fine Damian, please, check on the girl.”

As if Damian needed any more confirmation that Ladybug was Marinette. Here she was not even denying that she knew him in that cute stammering manner she did. With a small nod, he turned to check over the girl, making sure the Akuma hadn’t bruised her. 

Beside him, Ladybug stumbled to her feet throwing her Miraculous Cure into the air. Instantly, Damian noticed all the damage disappearing under the blinding lights as if the battle had never happened in the first place. He wanted to ask her how the magic behind it worked, but the sound of a shout cut him off. 

“Oi! Get back here you little brat! I’m not done teaching you a lesson for eating my food!”

Instantly the girl in his arms became smaller. Ladybug noticed it as well as her eyes hardened, almost daring the man to take a step forward. 

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stop right there. You were just a victim of Hawkmoth’s powers and need to be checked over by Chat Noir.”

The blonde hero nodded warily as if ready to attack from behind if things went south.

“I ain’t doing any of that. This child right here is mine and needs to be taught a lesson one way or another.”

Ladybug glanced behind her at the small girl’s silent tears as she clung to Damian’s arms as if they were her lifeline. 

“You will be doing no such thing. In fact, by the end of today, she will no longer be your child. I suggest you leave now sir, I wouldn’t want things to get ugly.”

The man had the audacity to laugh. It fueled the rage inside Damian, but he refused to let go of the girl. He feared that if he did, she would run. 

“What are you gonna do? You superheroes can’t touch me if I’m not akumatized.”

In a flash, he lunged forward. Ladybug wasn’t even fazed as she sidestepped him, pushing his head down into the cobblestone below. It was only one blow, but he was out cold, a small split on his forehead. 

Damian couldn’t help the way his jaw hung. 

“Medic, he’s going to need stitches. Sir,” Damian shook the shock from his face as he met her eyes. “This child seems to have taken a liking to you, would you mind taking her to the police station for me? Tell them I will be there soon to make my report and check on her.”

Damian nodded, unable to find his voice as those intimidating eyes stared down into his. 

“And one more thing, I’ll be checking in with you later as well. It seems we have much to talk about little bird.”

Damian’s entire face flushed red as she swung off with her partner, his eyes never leaving her figure until she was out of sight. The sound of pounding feet on the pavement brought him back to reality as his brother’s skidded in front of him, their faces as impressed as his. 

“Hey Damian, this is your fair warning. If you don’t date her, I might.”

“Ditto.”

“Me three.”

Damian stumbled over his denial as he watched his brother’s burst into laughter. Dick gathered the young girl from his arms, cooing at her until she was calm once more, allowing him to finally stand. 

“You all are not worthy of her, only I am.”

Jason crossed his arms mocking Damian’s half pout as he and Tim shared another laugh at the murderous look in his eyes. He could care less what these imbeciles thought, the only thing that mattered was what she did. 

And he couldn’t wait to find out.


	13. It's My Birthday?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @sixtyeightdays asked: batfam: *throws mari a party for her birthday* mari, entering: huh wait whats happening batfam: SURPRISEEE! mari: why tho dick idk: its your bdae mari mari, pauses: oH YEAH

Marinette had been in Gotham for less than three months and she felt like she hadn't stopped moving since that first day. It was exhausting but in the best way.

Ever since she had met the Wayne’s two years ago, they had been begging her to come work for them as their personal stylists, promising her she could take on other commissions as long as their’s came first.

She had been reluctant at first. I mean, everything she had ever read said that going into business with friends was terrible, but after months of Dick’s puppy dog eyes, Tim’s coffee gifts, Jason’s borderline aggravating texting, she finally said yes to the sound of Damian saying please.

It was long hours between helping Alfred and Lucius mend Batsuits to creating the never-ending flow of tuxedos for whatever event came next. Then throwing in the occasional commissions for Jagged and Penny, she barely slept five hours a night.

Needless to say that when Dick invited her over for dinner, she was almost in tears at the thought of taking a night off.

She thanked Alfred as he let her in the doors, allowing her to wander down the halls toward their favorite room; the game room.

It was a room filled to the brim with everything from arcade machines to every Xbox or Playstation game imaginable. She was still waiting for Tim to convince Bruce to add a Switch as well so that she could dominate on yet another platform.

As she pulled at the doors, a sudden silence filled the room. Her eyebrows furrowed as she threw them open, stepping into the empty room.

“What the-”

She could’ve sworn she heard voices just moments ago as she stood outside. Taking another step forward, several figures jumped out, electing a small scream from the girl.

“SURPRISE!”

“What the actual hell my guys?” Marinette grasped at her heart, trying to will it to calm down.

“It’s a party! For you! Surprise!” Dick stepped forward, placing a small plastic tiara on her head, ignoring the bewildered look that still sat on her face.

She heard the snap of a camera as Jason’s muffled laughter followed.

“Oh God, you’re all gonna want prints of this. It’s priceless.”

Marinette glanced around the room to see all the Batmemebers gathered from Aunt Kate to Selina to Captain Gordon. There had to be at least a dozen or so people here, all glancing warily at each other as if waiting for her to say something.

“Dick, why are you throwing a party for me? I moved in months ago.”

Dick shook his head as if he couldn’t believe the words he was hearing. Her eyes darted to Damian’s as he placed his arm over her shoulders, pulling her into his side.

“Marinette, Angel, do you know what today is?”

“Uhm Wednesday, uh the 20th?”

He nodded slowly as if egging her on, waiting for her to hit the realization. Jason stepped forward, his eyebrow cocked as he handed her a small gift bag.

“Princess, it’s your birthday.”

Marinette shook her head, the denial already at the tip of her tongue when it slammed into her like a freight train.

“No it’s no-ohmY IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!” She held her head preparing for the major headache to hit with the revelation that she had forgotten her own birthday.

“She’s got it folks!”

A cheer erupted from the room as Marinette covered her mouth, trying to hold back the hysterical laughter that slipped through. Peeking in the bag, she couldn’t be bothered to hold back her laughter anymore.

Pulling out the plushie, she showed off the Robin, turning it to see the small ladybug perched on its beak.

“I love it so much!”

Everybody returned to their chatting as she placed the bag down on the nearest table before returning to Damian’s arms.

“Angel, how could you forget your own birthday?”

She shook her head as she burrowed into his chest, trying to calm her reddening cheeks.

“I got too busy I guess.”

It was Damian’s turn to shake his head as he placed a small kiss on her forehead, holding back his own chuckles.

“Happy Birthday Marinette.”

“Yeah, Happy Birthday to Me.”


	14. The Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Could I maybe request more sibling Jasonette with Mari just having a rough day with Jason comforting her? I love your writing!

Marinette was having a crappy day. Wait, not just a day, a crappy week, no month, or was it a year? She had honestly lost track of when she had her last good day.

Everyone told her she couldn’t do better than interning under Audrey Bourgeois fresh out of lycee and they were probably right, but she couldn’t imagine herself in a worse situation at the moment. Project after project piled up and everywhere she looked, Audrey was there criticizing her every move, forcing her to re-do finished designs before she could even start overdue commissions.

As she turned the key, pushing the door open to her apartment, Marinette could almost cry from the amount of relief flowing over her. Tomorrow would be her one and only day off for the next month and she didn’t even know what to do with it.

Just as she sank into her couch, her phone began to buzz beside her. With a slight groan, she pulled herself up searching for the source of the vibrations. In all honesty, she was tempted to ignore it for fear that it was Audrey calling her in on her day off yet again, but the punishment for sending Audrey to voicemail was much worse than working.

“Hello, This is Marinette.”

“Yo Princess! I know you have a day off tomorrow! Do you wanna go patrolling with me?”

Marinette opened her mouth to respond, but something caused her to stop. A single tear fell down her face, traveling until it hit her lip, triggering the fall of another. Pretty soon, soft sniffles took over as she cupped her phone to her face, trying to pull herself together.

“Hey, Mari, are you crying? What’s wrong?”

She muffled out a small nothing, but it was less than convincing.

“That’s it, Batman can find someone else to patrol tonight. I’ll be over in five, leave your door unlocked unless you want to have to replace a window again.”

The line went dead as Marinette stood to unlock her front door, the tears still fresh on her cheeks. She hadn’t meant to break down at that very moment, but the sound of Jason’s voice snapped her will. She had barely sat back down when her door flew open, a frantic Jason almost falling through.

“Who do I need to kill? Is it that Agreste kid again? I’ll finish him this time/”

Marinette shook her head as shaky laughter escaped her lips.

“I don’t really know what happened. It’s just been a long couple of months and Audrey has been insufferable and she wants so much more than one person could possibly manage. I’ve pulled too many all-day shifts to even count on my hands. She’s taking everything I love about fashion and squashing it under her five-inch heel.”

She felt the tears pooling in her eyes once more, but she shook her head, refusing to cry again tonight. Feeling the couch shift beside her, she peeked up at Jason who simply clucked his tongue before patting her head.

“There there Princess. I believe you are simply having a stress-induced meltdown. Timmy boy has them all the time.”

Marinette felt the denial on the tip of her tongue. She wasn’t stressed or in the middle of a meltdown, she just felt mentally and physically drained from the tyranny of Audrey Bourgeois, that wasn’t stress, right? Just distaste for her boss, everyone felt that from time to time.

“You know it’s not a bad thing right? You need to let it out sometimes or that stress becomes all-consuming. You don’t wanna end up like Brucie hm?”

He gently nudged her side, his playful smile drawing out yet another tear. Leaning into his outstretched arms, Marinette let her tears fall, not even bothering to hold them back. It felt so-

“So much better am I right?”

Her breathy chuckle confirmed his comment as he rubbed her back in small circles, doing his best to help her relieve as much stress as possible. They stayed in that position for longer than he intended, but it didn’t matter, as long as she felt better. 

When she finally pulled back, her eyes were red and puffy, the little bit of mascara she had put on earlier streaked down her cheeks. Jasin could help the explosion of laughter that came next.

“Oh my God, you look like a raccoon! You could sneak into Gotham’s Rogue area and I’m sure no one could even tell the difference. Forget Ladybug, you can be Raccoon-Girl, newest villain of Gotham oof-”

Jason doubled over as Marinette tried to choke back her laughter at the sight of him holding his stomach.

“Raccoon-Girl? That’s all you could come up with?”

“I’m sure Damian would like, let me call him.”

“No!” Jason let out another whine as she smacked his stomach again, ripping the phone from his hand.

“You’re totally blushing!”

“Am not!”

“Whatever princess, you’re so crushing on Damian. I knew it, I’m the best matchmaker there is.” Jason crossed his arms over his chest, his usual smug expression taunting her.

“Weren’t you coming over here to make me feel better? How is making fun of me accomplishing any of that?”

“You’re smiling and blushing.” Jason pinched her still red cheek earning a protest from the girl. “I’d say the mission is accomplished. But just in case it needs the icing on top.”

Marinette gasped as he pulled out a small movie from his jacket, waving it in front of her face as her eyes widened.

“Is that-” Jason nodded, not even bothering letting her ask the rest of her question.

“Bruce’s original copy of The Devil Wears Prada, I figured it was fitting for this situation.”

As he slipped the disk in, Marinette settled into her couch a thousand times lighter than when she entered a couple hours ago. Sure, she still had a terrible internship under what could arguably be the devil herself, but if it meant living close to her rock, then it was worth it.

After all, nothing was better than what she had in Gotham City.


	15. Double Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Foc where mari is accused of cheating on adrein but shes been dating Damian for months

“But c’mon Marinette, I don’t understand why you and Adrien don’t want to go on a double date with us!”

Alya fell dramatically over her friend’s lap, flashing her the biggest puppy dogs imaginable.

“And for the third time this week Alya, Adrien and I are not dating!” Marinette paused her stitching to pat her friend’s forehead in comfort.

For whatever reason imaginable, Alya and the other’s got this idea in their head that because Marinette finally stopped stuttering all over Adrien, it obviously meant she was dating him. It didn’t help that they were spending an excessive amount of time together as well. But really, she could explain if they just gave her the chance.

“You guys can stop hiding it! Is it because of his dad? If that’s the reason, we promise to keep a secret and won’t post anything, Reporter’s honor.”

Alya crossed her heart, her eyes only seeming to get bigger as a cheeky smirk pulled at her lips. Marinette released the sigh she was holding back. No, even if she did explain, she’s almost positive that her friends wouldn’t be able to let go of the ideals they held so close to over the years.

“Sorry to disappoint you babe, but we will never be getting together and that’s that.”  
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … . .

“Can you believe her Nino? Why would she want to hide her relationship from her best friend? This is getting so frustrating.”

Nino rubbed small circles into his girlfriend’s back as they walked down the avenue.

“I don’t know, my boy Adrien won’t admit it either. I get it that his father is tough, but even he would want his son to be happy, right?”

The two shared a look. That had to be it. Gabriel was just that horrible of a parent that he could care less about his son’s happiness if it meant the business would continue. As they turned the corner, a small giggle caught their attention. Alya’s eyes widened as she took in the sight in front of her.

Her best friend in an absolutely stunning dress, sitting outside one of Paris’ top restaurants, with a man that wasn’t Adrien.

“Maybe that’s a potential client?” Nino tried to offer, but Alya couldn’t be reached.

“I can’t believe she would cheat on Adrien! She’s so against liars and look at her, she’s the biggest hypocrite of them all!”

“Babe, he really could be a client, after all, look, they’re sitting at a table for four. It’s probably just small talk before Adrien gets there.”

Another giggle filled the air as Marinette reached over, allowing him to place a chaste kiss on her knuckles.

“This is utter bullshit. C’mon Nino, we’re facing this head-on.”

Nino tried to stutter out a defense, but all too quickly, he found himself being dragged toward the table.

“Excuse me, but I noticed that these seats are open, do you mind?”

Marinette’s face turned a deadly shade of pale as she waved her hands to the open chairs, inviting them to sit. Nino awkwardly slid into the chair beside the dark-haired man, avoiding eye contact at all cost.

“So Marinette, where is your boyfriend this evening?”

Alya’s expression was dark as she watched her friend’s mouth gape like a fish out of water. Out of everything she could imagine, Marinette cheating on Adrien was never a thought that passed her mind. 

“He’s right here, why do you ask?”

Nino slowly turned to glance at the man beside him. His cool composure didn’t match the fire in his eyes. Nino was confident that if he wanted to, he could shoot lasers from them if he concentrated hard enough.

“Yeah right pretty boy, you would think so huh? So are you the side guy or is Adrien? How long has Marinette been deceiving you? Or do you know that she’s taken? That’s really messed up.”

Nino tried to shake his head, tell Alya to stop without speaking, but she refused to even glance at him.

“I wasn’t aware that Agreste was even interested in my Hobi. I’ll be sure to correct that later.”

“Alya, please leave this alone.” Marinette’s pleading voice almost broke Nino’s heart. There had to be a good reason for all of this, he firmly believed it.

“Why? So you can continue going behind Adrien’s back? He’s too good for this Marinette.”

“I’m too good for what?”

Nino turned his head to the head of the table where Adrien stood, his arm thrown over a man he had never met. It almost looked like…

“Alya, it’s time for us to leave.”

His girlfriend’s attention snapped to him. Normally, he would be terrified of that look on her face, but now wasn’t the time to stand down. At the moment, he was more scared of the man beside him.

“Nino-”

“No, Alya, let’s go. After all, we’re interrupting their double date.”

A hand landed on his shoulder pulling him back into his seat with shocking strength.

“It looks like someone finally has a handle on the situation. Please, Nino was it?” Nino gulped as he nodded, unsure how the man knew his name. “Allow me to explain to your girlfriend here.”

“Explain what exactly?”

The man’s deadly eyes narrowed in on Alya before something even scarier happened, he smiled. Nino wasn’t sure if he should try to run, leave Alya to fend for herself, or stay and watch. Either way, he knew one thing. This was not something he was getting between.

“Alya Cesaire, a reporter for the Ladyblog. You just received an internship for the Daily Planet in their new department world affairs. Is all this correct?”

Alya nodded, her head cocked in curiosity.

“If you are such a grand reporter, as I assume you must be considering Mrs. Lane-Kent is very selective, then surely you must have picked up on the signs that your friend was seeing someone. The only thing you gravely misjudged was who. My friend Jon introduced the idea of a double date a few months ago, one that I was reluctant to at first.”

Adrien and Jon snickered as Marinette’s face flushed.

“However, when I arrived, I am not ashamed to say that I instantly found this woman striking. I have been courting your friend here since March, the majority of our outings with these two idiots.”

Two ‘hey’s’ echoed simultaneously causing Nino’s spinning head to fly off. Everything made so much more sense. Adrien and Marinette sneaking around together, reluctant to admit that they were dating. Well, they were dating, just not each other.

“But this doesn’t make any sense! Why would you hide the fact that you have a boyfriend, Marinette? I thought we were besties?”

“Because Alya, my boyfriend has a life of his own, one that he rarely escapes from unless he is meeting me here in secret. I’m sorry, but you have to understand. Not everyone has the freedom to express their private life without a backlash.”

Marinette reached over the table to intertwine her fingers with the man, both mirroring the same lovesick smile on their faces.

“Now if you’ll excuse us, we have a double date to finish as I’m sure you and Nino have plans as well.”

Nino stood immediately, muttering apologies for both he and Alya as he drug her from the restaurant.

“But, Nino! We can’t leave! I have so many questions! Who is that man?”

Nino risked a glance back as Adrien and Jon took the seats that they had just abandoned. He was someone powerful, famous too, he was sure of it.

“It doesn’t matter Alya. When the time comes, Marinette and Adrien will come to us. Let’s not push the matter, after all, as long as they’re happy right?”

Alya looked ready to argue, but instead, she sighed in defeat, speeding up her pace to match Nino’s.

“I suppose so. At least she’s not cheating on Adrien?”

Nino released the nervous laughter he had bottled up since seeing the man with Marinette.

“Yes, at least she’s not cheating on Adrien.”


	16. The First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @elements1999 asked: Could I request when Marinette first meets the Batfam (One as Marinette meeting the Wayne's, one as Marinette meeting the Batfam, one as Ladybug meeting the Wayne's, and one as Ladybug meeting the Batfam)

The first time Marinette met the Wayne’s was at a charity auction that she dragged Adrien too. 

With her first year of earnings beyond her imagination, Marinette wanted to donate some to charity and who better than Bruce Wayne. She read all about his many donations and auctions, how he came to the rescue of orphaned kids and hospitals struggling to stay afloat. She might not know much about charity, but she knew this man would put her money to good use. 

It didn’t take long for Adrien to wander off, his hopeless romantic self trailing after every beautiful person he saw. He advised her to find her own beautiful person, after all, this world revolved around connections, and she needed more than just Adrien. 

She set her eyes on a prominent looking man around her age. His attention seemed fixed on the older men he was entertaining, their conversation dragging, but the more she watched, the more she could recognize his own boredom. If anything else tonight, at least she could save him from succumbing to social suicide. 

“Excuse me sir, but I was wondering if I could steal a moment of your time. I had a question about, uh, the stocks of your company.”

His eyebrow cocked as a playful smirk pulled at his lips. He knew that she had no intention of doing such things with one glance. She was impressed. As he excused himself from his company, the man offered his arm which she readily took. 

“Now Miss, what questions could I answer for you?”

“Hmm, well, we could start with how do you put up with such dreadful conversations for hours on end? You looked like you were five seconds away from passing out.”

Tim, she soon learned, was the business partner of Bruce Wayne and his adopted son. He mostly dealt with the partnership side of Wayne Enterprise which meant enduring boring old man for hours on end at these types of events. They continued on with small talk as they walked the ballroom, but eventually, Tim had to excuse himself to yet another group of old men. 

Marinette shook her head, slightly amused at the sight of him putting on a game face. Maybe she could ask Tim to help her with the partnership side of MDC. Right now, her current co-owner was off making plans for an after-party, not a sponsor. 

“This is outrageous! I have my invite right here, what do you mean not invited? Brucie gave me this,” he shoved the piece of paper into the guard's face, “this morning.”

“Sir, a paper that says, Jason, my favorite son, this is an unlimited pass, does not count as an invite. Sorry.”

“You know, something tells me you’re not really sorry.”

Marinette bit her lip trying to hold back her laughter. For the second time in one night, it looks like she would have to be the knight in shining armor stepping in to save the damsel in distress. 

“Jason? I told you not to leave your invite on the counter!”

The man widened his eyes at her as she crossed her arms, a fake disappointment monopolizing her face. 

“Excuse me sir, but this is my date. He didn’t arrive home on time for work, so I left his invitation on the counter! I didn’t think he would be dumb enough to forget such a small piece of paper.”

“Oh yes, I’m sorry babe, please forgive me?”

The security guard didn’t look convinced, but he sidestepped allowing Jason to enter. Immediately he threw his arm over her shoulders as he dragged them away from the entrance as quickly as possible. 

“First off, thanks for getting me in small fry. Second, who are you? The guards aren’t that stupid, they know we’re not together, but for some reason, it only took one look at you and they let me right in. Are you like sleeping with Bruce or something?”

Marinette’s face paled as she tried to stutter out a denial. 

“Oh God,” Jason bursted into laughter, accidentally dragging her down with him as they doubled over. “Oh god, I’m sorry. It was too good, your face was too good.”

Marinette landed a punch in the man’s side with a sickening thud, but he didn’t even flinch. Instead, he had the audacity to ruffle her pristine hair while wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

“Anyways, fess up, who are you really?”

Her time with Jason was much different from Tim’s. She honestly couldn’t believe that they were raised by the same man. Tim was constantly calculating his every sentence, watching her for signs of a slip-up or lie. He was composed the entire time, careful not to insult her as if she was a potential business partner. Jason? Not so much. 

They traded insults and jabs at each other before turning their attention to the room insulting anyone who dared to step into their line of view. Marinette would be lying if she said she wasn’t a bit disappointed when he had to leave to find Bruce. 

She spent the next few minutes wandering around the room until another damsel caught her eye. To put things lightly, Marinette was a little confused about who she was saving. The smaller man was maybe a couple inches taller than her and while the taller man was looming over him. However, it was the look in the smaller one’s eyes that screamed danger. 

“Hello sir, I seem to have wandered off from my group, would you happen to have the time? I wouldn’t want to be late to the auction.”

Whatever argument the two were engaged in instantly came to a standstill as they seized each other up before turning to face her. The taller one flashed her a blinding smile before introducing himself as Dick. 

“My son here is Damian and I’m sure he’d be glad to show a beautiful woman like yourself back to the auction site.” He placed a hand on Damian’s head, giving his hair a ruffle for good measure. 

“You are not my father Grayson, unhand me at once.” 

Marinette covered her mouth slightly trying to hide her giggles. She knew these two. They were the few exceptions to the press rule, always doing interviews as a brotherly team, maintaining the loving family image. 

“What is so funny woman?”

Marinette cleared her throat trying to swallow any remaining laughter. 

“Oh nothing, it’s just, you all are so different than I imagined, it’s quite refreshing.”

Damian shot her a quizzical look as if he wasn’t sure whether to be complimented or offended. 

“Well, if you like little bird so much, we should definitely get you back to the auction! This year, he graciously volunteered to be the surprise celebrity date.”

“Gracious is not the correct word Grayson. You all blackmailed me.”

“Details, details, so what do you say, Miss?” Dick waved off the accusation before offering his hand to her.

“Marinette, and I would be delighted to save him from the woman here.”

They chatted idly as they made their way back, neither oblivious to the slight red tinting Damian’s cheeks. When the time came, Marinette made sure to place the first and last bid for Damian Wayne. And before the end of the night, she had four numbers to match her four new friends. 

“Marinetteee, I didn’t find a single soul tonight that was there for a good time. What a bunch of sticks.”

Marinette chuckled as she slid into the limo, patting Adrien’s head with fake sympathy. 

“A bunch of sticks indeed.”  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The first time Marinette met the notorious Batman, she had gotten herself in over her head. 

She had just wanted to find this new fabric shop that Jason had suggested, who would’ve known that one wrong turn in Gotham and she would end up in Rogue territory. 

It had started just a handful of punks, intent on robbing her. Sure they had some knives, but she wasn’t worried at all. She only started freaking out when they seemed to duplicate right before her eyes. At the rate she was going, she was going to be overrun, no question about it. 

At least until the man dropped from the sky. Marinette didn’t have time to process what had happened, instead she used the distraction to knock out the nearest goon. Even with the new help, they were still being overwhelmed. 

“It’s time to get you out of here Miss, unfortunately, the two of us are not going to be enough for this guy.”

“This guy?”

Surely he wasn’t insinuating these masked men were one guy, right? He didn’t answer her as he pulled her into his side, sending his grapple into the dark sky. The landing was slightly rough as Marinette rolled to a stop, stumbling to her feet to get a good look at the man.

His suit was odd. Everything was fine from the coordinating red and black to the yellow robin perched on his breastplate, but what really did it for her was the spandex black hood covering his hair and eyes seemingly connected to his cape. 

“My God, Is that connected to your hood?” Marinette pinched at the material covering half his head, amazed as it snapped back into place immediately. “You know you could really hurt yourself like this?”

She paced around him admiring the handiwork of his suit. If she had to make a guess, this was most likely Red Robin. Her eyes narrowed in around the neck, a small string almost unnoticeable sat at the base.

“Ohh I get it now, you pull this little string right here and it’s like an emergency relief. Okay, I’ll let the weird hood slide.”

He seemed to pay her no mind as he slipped the small device in his hand back into one of his many pockets.

“Ma’am, backup is on the way, I’m going to have to ask you to stay right here until one of us lets you down.”

“Hmm, would this be considered kidnapping?”

Red Robin stumbled over himself trying to explain that it was for her own safety, that Batman would never kidnap her. It took everything in her not to bust out laughing from his distress. She waved off his rambling as he watched him jump back down into the herd of men below. 

Now that she was alone, maybe she could transform, help him. She turned from her spot only to come face to face with another superhero. 

“Oh no, you can’t skip away, I’m pretty sure Red told you to hold your position.”

“Dude, I just really was trying to get to this 24-hour fabric shop that my friend told me about. I can’t help that danger just seems to follow me.”

The man clicked his tongue before reaching out to ruffle her hair in an annoyingly familiar way. 

“Sorry small fry, just you and me until Red down there can relay a plan.”

Small fry? Only one obnoxiously fun person in Gotham City has referred to her like that and the more she stared him down, the more the gears started to turn in her head. 

“Do I look good from that angle? Am I mesmerizing to you? Is the moonlight reflecting off my hair blinding you?”

If she had any doubts before, the ridiculous poses from the man in front of her only confirmed what she had thought. Before she could ask, the man quickly placed his finger up to his ear, his face dropping to deadly serious. 

“Okay, so princess, I’m going to have to ask you nicely to stay up here. Robin should be here at any moment to make sure of it, but the situation just got a little bit more dire. Nice meeting you though, try not to fall in love with me when I save your life.”

Marinette wouldn't even respond as she leaned over the edge watching the fight ensue down below. Another two heroes had arrived, one in a blue and black suit, the thin mask concealing his eyes. The other?

“Oh mon Dieu, that’s Batman!”

“Are you always this obvious?” A hand barely touched her shoulder and on instinct, Marinette gripped it, pulling the attacker over her back and slamming them into the roof. 

“Oh, oh, oh, I’m so sorry Robin. I guess I got a little spooked from the fight down below.”

The man stared at her with an unreadable expression before adjusting his hood, scooting a couple of inches back before standing. He kept one hand on a small piece jutting out of his ear that she only assumed was a comm as if waiting for instructions. 

“Hey, do you know the identity of the other’s down there?”

“Tt, of course I do, what kind of question is that?”

She shook her head, a small smile pulling at her lips. 

“Nothing much, just wondering. You know, Red Robin said something about those goons being one guy, does that mean you guys are looking for one person in particular to stop the clones?”

“How do you know so much about Multiplex?”

“I don’t,” she shrugged her shoulders as nonchalantly as she could. “I’m just trying to get a grasp of my situation. If you were to ask me though, they’re not going to find him in the crowd down there and even if Batman is looking for the direction they could be coming from, he has no vantage point to see.”

Robin paused for a moment as if he was going to regret the next words that came out of his mouth. 

“Fine, if I were to ask you, where do you think the main copy is?”

Marinette pointed wordlessly to the building they were standing on. Reaching out, she grabbed Robin’s hand pulling him to where she stood. 

“Unhand me wo-” Marinette placed her finger on his lips waiting for him to silence before motioning over the edge to where the alleyway entrance was propped open.

“When I first got here, that’s the direction the first three came from. Now if my theory is correct, this Multiplex guy doesn’t need to be on sight to create copies and once he creates a copy, that copy can multiply no matter how many times it’s beaten down. So him sending only three out, can make six men minimum, right?”

Robin simply nodded, but she could see the wheel’s turning in his head, matching her own. 

“You’re saying that if I enter that door down there, he should be somewhere in this warehouse that we’re standing on.”

“I’m saying if we go down there with an inhibitor collar, we can help Batman.”

“Absolutely not Mar-Miss. It’s too dangerous for a civilian. You can stay right here.” 

All it took was one reminder that she had flipped him on instinct and he was the trained one for Robin to bring her down with him. In a matter of minutes, Robin had taken down Multiplex, surprised that she was right. 

They were in the middle of an argument when the others stepped through the door, all wearing the same shocked expressions. 

“Miss, what were you doing here this late at night?”

Marinette paused, the sudden realization that she was indeed standing in front of Batman, arguing with his sidekick that she was more competent than he was, how embarrassing. 

“I really was just looking for this 24-hour fabric store that my friend Jason told me about. Do any of you know anything about that? Oh, better yet, can someone take me there? I really have so much work to be done and so little time to do it in.”

The five of them exchanged glances as if they weren’t sure who should go. It was like watching an involuntary ‘nose-goes’ game. 

“Robin will take you.”

There was a slight grumble, but even he couldn’t hide the blush peeking out from under his mask. It only took five minutes by grapple and as he sat her down on the pavement, Marinette pecked his cheek. 

“I think you might need a new disguise little bird,” she sent him a wink before turning to enter the store, unable to hide her own blush forming. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

The first time Ladybug met the Wayne’s, she was in the wrong place at the right time. 

She just wanted to drop off a new Lgeimat recipe that she had definitely not been trying to perfect ever since Damian mentioned his middle eastern heritage. So, you could imagine her surprise when she found Poison Ivy standing on the mansion’s doorstep. 

Setting the plate on top of the call box, Marinette wasted no time transforming. Slinging her yo-yo, she pulled Ivy off her feet, landing on top of the woman as the door swung open. 

“My lord, what do we have here?” 

Alfred stepped backward, his eyes scanning over the scene in front of him. Marinette wanted to shove her yo-yo into Ivy’s mouth to end the string of curses falling out. Honestly, it was enough to turn the tips of Marinette’s ears pink.

“Master Bruce, your visitor has arrived and with a friend,” Alfred called behind him, stepping out of the door frame only to allow Bruce to fill it instead. 

“Mr. Wayne, I was patrolling and a young woman came running up frightened for your safety. She said she was on her way to surprise you when she caught sight of this rogue on your doorstep.”

Bruce looked slightly amused. Marinette wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried at that fact. 

“What may I call you Miss?”

“Uh, Ladybug.”

“Miss Ladybug, Dr. Isley here was my guest tonight, not an enemy, but I can understand the confusion. We had a new arboretum to talk about. Would you please release her?”

Marinette was sure her face matched her suit. She quickly withdrew her yo-yo, offering her hand for Ivy to stand. The woman ignored her, still cursing under her breath as Alfred led her inside leaving Bruce to stand with her on the porch. 

“I’m so sorry Mr. Wayne. The young woman sounded frantic, I was only trying to help.”

Bruce waved off her apology, even going as far as inviting her inside. She politely declined, trying to escape before she could embarrass herself even further. But it was futile. They finally settled on a picture with his sons who all were apparently big fans from her Paris days. 

Marinette tried to feign ignorance to who the boys were, but it was so hard as they fawned over her outfit, asking her a million and one questions about Hawkmoth and Chat Noir. Even Damian seemed impressed by her standing in front of him. 

“Oh my, I almost forgot.” Marinette took off in a jog to the front gate. “The young woman asked if I could deliver these to the youngest Wayne and I’m assuming that’s you.”  
She returned, handing off the plate to Damian whose eyes instantly softened. 

“Lgeimat” it was barely a whisper, but Marinette felt her heart flip at how fond his voice sounded over the fritters. “If you see her before I do, please thank her.”

Marinette nodded, too scared of her own voice to answer. Bruce motioned for them to gather together as he pulled out his phone, snapping several photos at once. When she left, Marinette was jealous that she could never ask for a copy.  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

The first time Ladybug met Batman she had accidentally landed in the middle of their meeting on top of Wayne Tower. 

As soon as her feet hit the rooftop, all voices silenced, five sets of eyes landing on her position. 

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize this rooftop was taken, I’ll be on my way.”

She quickly unwound her yo-yo, ready to take off when a hand grasped her wrist, forcing her to stand down. 

“Please, Ladybug, we actually have a few questions for you.”

It was Dick, no, Nightwing. She was sure without even having to look him in the eyes. No one else ever used such a soft gentle tone with her. Securing her yo-yo back in its rightful place, she nodded, walking over to where the rest of the group stood. 

“Nice to finally meet you Ladybug, how long have you been in my city?”

The only thing holding her back from her theory that the Wayne brothers were the bat boys was the idea that this crude man in front of her was really Bruce Wayne. She had heard of split personality, but he took it to a whole new level. 

“Quite a few months now. I try not to go out much considering this is your city to protect, but I had to out myself the other day to save a civilian. Turns out he didn’t need my help, but I figured it was in the open now that Paris’ hero was in Gotham City. Surprise?”

Red Hood looked like it was paining him to try and not laugh as she and Batman continued their staredown. 

“When will you be leaving?”

“I’m not sure, I’ve started to grow fond of some people here, makes me want to settle down.”

She heard the hitch in Robin’s breath making her smirk stretch even further at the idea that he liked the thought. 

“Would you be willing to reveal your identity to me? I don’t like unknowns in my city.”

“Only if you reveal yours first.”

She crossed her arms in mock defiance as Batman’s lips pulled into their own smirk. 

“You’re Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“You’re Bruce Wayne.”

There was a moment of silence where neither party said a word. The others seemed to be glued, unsure who was going to move first. With a great sigh, Bruce reached up, pulling back his mask to reveal his face. Marinette smiled as she called off Tikki, revealing herself in the middle of the rooftop.

“I knew it. See, pay up Timmy boy.” Jason threw off his mask before lifting Marinette in the air in a bone-crushing hug. 

“I was dumb to bet against it,” Tim pulled off his hood, a smirk monopolizing his face. 

Dick didn’t even bother to let her regain her footing before sweeping her into a hug of his own. As he sat Marinette down, she couldn't help the nervous chuckle that escaped her lips as she turned to face Damian. His face was unreadable as he pulled back his hood. Slowly he reached forward, his hand tentatively touching her cheek as if to ensure that she was real. 

“I, uh, wanted to thank you for the dessert. Nobody has really gone that far for me before and I, uh, appreciated it.”

He took a step forward, his whole hand cupping her cheek sending the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy. Just as she thought something could happen, an arm around her shoulder pulled her swiftly out of Damian’s reach. 

“Okay lovebirds, not in front of his dad! Princess, you can’t steal this boy’s first kiss in front of his daddy.”

The first time Marinette cried in Gotham City was that night. Her laughter turned into tears of joy as she watched Damian and Jason nearly kill each other while Dick and Tim placed bets. It would be the first time she felt this kind of joy, but far from the last. 

After all, surrounded by Gotham’s biggest idiots, her friends, there were sure to be many more firsts.


	17. The Never Ending Cycle of Proposals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a continuation from a previous chapter, The Cycle of Never Ending First Dates! @mystery-5-5 on tumblr requested it and I was so excited to finish it.

This was not how it was supposed to go.

Damian had made sure of it. He found and destroyed every contingency plan that Jason and the others had formed. He flew Marinette back to Paris, to her parent’s bakery so that they could be a part of the moment. There should be no possible way things could go sideways.

Clearly he had underestimated the members of Date Duty.

“-and then Marinette fell down the stairs! Can you believe it? It was her big debut at the Wayne Gala as Damian’s girlfriend and this girl got so nervous that she tripped over her own two feet.”

“That’s our Marinette. As graceful as ever.”

A boisterous laughter filled Damian’s ears as the bakery door snapped shut behind him. Checking his watch, he tried to recall how long he had been gone. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes. How did Jason get to Paris?

“Oh! Damian sweetie, look who just flew in to check in on us and low and behold, he didn’t even know that you and Marinette had the exact same thought! How crazy is that?”

Damian plastered on his best fake smile as his eyes attempted to burn Jason’s smirk off his face.

“Very crazy indeed Sabine. Do you mind if my brother and I excuse ourselves for a moment?”

“Oh! Not at all, we should really be getting ready to open anyways. Please, feel free to head up to the apartment. Marinette should be back from Alya’s soon, but make yourselves at home boys.”

They both nodded as Damian stalked behind Jason, forcing him to take the steps two at a time. As Jason threw open the door, he finally released the laughter that he had been holding back.

“I really didn’t think you were going to make it. If you actually had any powers, I would’ve been scared for my life down there.”

“I don’t need powers to kill you Todd.”

Jason reached out to ruffle Damian’s hair, his smirk only fueling the smaller boy’s rage.

“What are you doing here Todd? This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation for Marinette to see her parents. You are neither relaxing or her parents.”

“Oh don’t be coy with me Dami, I know what you’re really here for, we all do in fact. Did you really think you could get away with proposing to Marinette without getting through us first? You only tore up some fake plans, plans meant to lure you into revealing when you were going to propose. Considering how quick you were to get Marinette on a plane without saying goodbye tells me you plan on doing it this week.”

Damian counted backward from ten as he tried to consider all of his options left. He had taken into consideration that the plans could be fake, but there should’ve been no way that they could’ve tracked him to Paris. He paid in cash at the airport for the tickets and flew economy, economy for crying out loud!

“I thought your whole little club was to protect Marinette from heartbreak, there was no mention of protecting her from proposals.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong Damian.” The look on Jason’s face was unnerving to say the least, but Damian refused to back down. This was his girlfriend, his soon to be finance, and the only woman he wanted to love for the rest of his life. There was no way he would let some street rat like Jason stop him.

“I refuse to allow you to ruin this Todd.”

“Allow implies that you think you have control over this and I can assure you that you don’t. Marinette will not be leaving Paris with a ring on her finger, marriage is out of the question. You are lucky that we have allowed you two to be together for so long. You are too dangerous for her demon spawn and marriage places an even larger target on her back than the one she already has.”

“Are you prepared to be defeated protecting your ideals Todd?”

“Are you Damian?”

Damian felt the low growl in the back of his throat itching it’s way forward. He was so close to Jason’s face, he could end this right here and now, throw him in the guest room and never look back.

“Damian? Jason? What are you two doing here? And alone at that?”

Both turned their attention to the door where Marinette stood, a sheepish expression on her face as if she could feel the tension radiating off the two men.

“Hey princess! I was just stopping by to check in on your parents and I definitely had no idea that you and Damian were here! You two lovebirds should’ve told someone before running off to Paris like that.”

Jason pulled Marinette into a tight hug, sticking his tongue out behind her head at Damian.

“Well, I did. I told Adrien just in case anything happened.”

One look at Jason’s smug expression and Damian knew. One little blonde went racing to his brother before he and Marinette had even boarded the plane.

“Oh that’s good then, I’m glad someone knew. I’ll leave you two alone now, after all, I have places to be and people to see and I’m sure you have a wonderful vacation planned for Damian here.”

Marinette nodded with little enthusiasm as she waved bye to Jason, locking the door behind him.

“Damian, what was that about?”

He shook his head as he pulled her forward placing a small kiss on her forehead.

“I wish I knew habibti.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Damian was on full alert for the next couple of days, unable to relax and enjoy his time with Marinette’s family for fear that one of his nemesis would pop out at any moment and steal the ring hidden safely inside his coat pocket. Every once in a while, he would find his hand absentmindedly searching for the box, just as a reassurance that it was still there.

He wasn’t scared of the members of Date Duty, but he was scared that the moment that he had planned out for so long would be ruined by a handful of imbeciles.

“Oh look! It’s Chloe and Luka! I didn’t know they were in town.”

Damian's attention became hyper focused as he narrowed in on the suspicious couple waving them over. There was no way that two members of Jason’s little club decided to fly back on the same week that he and Marinette did.

He smiled and shook hands with Luka as they chatted idly for a few minutes. Marinette promised to catch up with them later before leaning in to hug Chloe. The blonde turned her attention to him as she leaned in and hugged him bye as well. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing suspicious, nothing-

“Fuck.”

Damian’s hand went straight to his now empty pocket. He searched frantically to be sure that it hadn’t fallen in any holes that he wasn’t aware of, but alas, it was gone. Marinette held onto his hand tightly, concern filling her eyes, but he waved her off.

If that’s how Todd wanted to play, then fine. Damian was ready. It was time for Jason to bring it on.   
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Damian wasn’t sure how he thought the rest of the week would play out, but this was not it.

Monday he had gone to buy another ring when he ran into Tony Stark. He claimed he was there to get his wife a unique gift from Paris. Turns out a unique gift meant buying her every jewelry store in Paris, or at least majority shares, effectively destroying Damian’s chances of finding a new ring.

Tuesday he decided to just propose without the ring, after all, it just meant she could pick out a new one whenever they hit stateside again. They had made it all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower, watching the sunset with her curled into his side as they leaned on the railing. He wanted to wait until the tower had cleared a bit, right when the sun dipped below the horizon, but much to his fear a large squeal erupted from the platform.

None other than Jagged Stone had decided to do an impromptu concert on top of the Eiffel Tower. Soon, between the noise and the crowd, Damian couldn’t even think straight, much less make space to go down on one knee. They called it a night with the question still on the tip of his tongue.

By Wednesday, Sabine had caught on to the real reason they were there. She pulled him to the side along with Tom where the both offered her engagement ring. Damian finally felt like he had caught a break. How foolish that was.

They walked into Marinette’s favorite restaurant that night only to find out that it had been bought out for the night by the Agreste family. He apparently decided that this would be an excellent date night spot for him and Kagami.

Thursday came and went with no attempts made. He had barely made it out of bed when he heard two voices in the kitchen. Praying to whatever God would hear him, Damian opened the door only to feel his heart drop. Tim and Dick sat in the kitchen while Marinette heated up some coffee, telling her all about the business deal they were taking care of in Paris.

Lucky for them, they had a day off and wanted to spend it with their favorite couple.

As Friday’s sun rolled in, Damian felt defeated.

“Mon amour, are you even listening?”

Damian nodded absentmindedly as he fiddled with the ring in his pocket.

“So do you want to go to this little reunion dinner tonight?”

“With who?”

“With my old classmates? I think Dick and Tim might stop by if they get out early today. Should be fun!”

He attempted a smile for her sake as he sent her a small nod. So on their last night in Paris, they all decided to gather in one spot making it impossible for Damian to sneak out with Marinette. It felt pretty foolproof.

“Damian, why have you been so out of it lately? This whole week you have been constantly checking over your shoulder. Are you worried about something?”

Marinette gathered his hand as she sunk on to the bed beside him.

“I just wanted this trip to be special, but a couple of special idiots have proved to make that nearly impossible. I don’t know how you dealt with them over the years.”

“Well, it felt nearly hopeless. I was convinced I was going to be single forever, but one man swooped in and saved me making me feel like there was nothing those special idiots could do. I’d like to think that he feels the same way when it comes to me. After all, a proposal doesn’t need to be in some big memorable place, it just needs to be between two people who love each other.”

Damian’s mouth gaped like a fish out of water as he tried to stutter out a denial, but it was hopeless. His cheeks felt like they were a hundred degrees as her laughter floated through the air.

“How did you know?”

“Date Duty had been disabled for a year and a half now. For them to all conveniently show up in Paris on the same week that we did? Well I’m not a big believer in coincidences when it comes to that group.”

Damian reached inside his pocket, pulling out the delicate ring that Sabine had given him a few days prior. A few tears formed in the corner of Marinette’s eyes as she covered her splitting smile with her hand.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you have amazed me at every turn since the first time I saw you many years ago. You are a strong, creative, loving and beautifully confident woman. You are my first thought in the morning and my last as I drift to sleep at night. I can’t imagine living with anyone else by my side. Please, will you marry me?”

Marinette nodded as she offered her left hand, allowing him to slip on her mother’s ring. It was no where close to the proposal that he had planned, but as her lips crashed into his, it couldn’t have made him happier.

Maybe when he saw Jason’s little club tonight, he would thank them.

After all, they lead him to the woman he loved and without their persistence, his relationship wouldn’t be as strong as it is today.

He had finally broken the never ending cycle, and man, did it feel good.


	18. Just What the Doctor Ordered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> elements1999 asked: Could I request a story where something bad happens to Marinette and while she's fine, Dick is worried and wants family time cuddles as reassurance (someone attempted to rob Marinette but she kicked their ass or something like that is what I meant by "bad")

“Dick I told you I was fine!”

The shining light in her eyes abruptly went out, leaving her to blink away the floating black dots.

“Timothy, I thought I told you to get Jason and Damian here stat.”

“I’m trying Dick! You know neither one will answer the phone if I’m calling.”

Dick nodded thoughtfully, his hand stroking his chin.

“You’re right, we need someone cute. Barbara!”

Barbara sat up in her chair as straight as she could, saluting Dick in a mocking manner.

“Call Damian and Jason, get them here stat.”

“Aye aye captain.”

Marinette let out a small groan as she watched her friends bustle around her. It was embarrassing really.

“Are you okay? Is something hurting?” Marinette shifted her gaze to where Stephanie’s watery blue eyes steeled into hers.

“Only my pride.”

The sound of a revving motorcycle caught everyone’s attention as Jason blasted into the cave, skidding to a stop a mere ten feet from where Marinette sat. He barely pulled the keys out before he was on top of Marinette, checking her over for injuries.

“What happened? Barbara told me you were hurt!”

“And you couldn’t answer when I called?” Jason waved off Tim’s remark as he continued his look over.

“Really I’m fine-”

“Who is dying tonight Grayson?”

Both Jason and Marinette jumped as Damian seemingly materialized beside the medtable, his katana drawn as if he was ready to slice down anyone in his way.

“No one baby bird, I already told Cass the same thing.”

Dick motioned to where Cassandra sat in Bruce’s chair, a pout monopolizing her face.

“But someone laid a finger on Marinette! They at least deserve to lose a hand!”

Jason nodded slowly as if his logic made perfect sense. Cassandra perked up a little from her seat.

“No, no, no. Marinette was hurt in the way that no amount of vengeance can fix. You see, the man tonight was no more than a mere thief, but our little girl was too distracted with the sidewalk sale, that she never even noticed him stealing her wallet.”

Several jaws dropped as the room went silent. Marinette rolled her eyes as she hopped off the medtable.

“Look, it was a long day and the sales were really good. I’ll admit, my pride was stepped on, but it’s not like he beat me up. I even got my wallet back! You guys are making a big deal out of nothing.”

“On the contrary,” Jason was the first to speak, his eyes wide as he forced a tear to roll down his cheek. “A wound to one’s pride is the hardest one to fix of them all.”

“He’s right, as much as those words pain me to say.” Marinette glanced to where Barbara sat, another great actor as she wiped away nonexistent tears.

“There is only one solution to a problem like this.”

Dick wrapped an arm around her shoulders, the glint of determination demanding everyone’s attention.

“We must have a movie night. Everyone. Together. Cuddled on the couch.”

“Wait a minute-” Damian was silenced by a finger to his lips, one he looked tempted to bite off.

“Marinette cannot be healed if we don’t all participate. As of right night, the doctor is prescribing Marinette with one all-nighter of cuddles and movies.”

Several approving nods scattered throughout the room. Marinette’s begging eyes landed on Damian. He was her only hope to get away from this madness, but alas, he too had been defeated.

“To the living room!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Marinette’s eyes fluttered open as the sunlight began to trickle through the room. She tried to shift, but several heavy bodies weighed her down.

As sleepiness began to wear off, she was able to make out the faces of her friend’s practically dogpiled on top of each other, all still asleep.

Maybe Dick was right, maybe yesterday wounded her pride more than she cared to admit. (not that she would ever say it to his face)

So instead she settled back in, shutting her eyes, attempting to soak up the warmth that surrounded her. One last drifting thought swam through her mind as she let the sleep take her away.

Maybe, just maybe, cuddles really were just what the doctor ordered.


	19. Girl's Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie X Marinette Roommates

Marinette narrowly avoided his hand as she dove into her apartment, a flash of blonde slamming the door shut behind her.

“Marinette! It’s just a date! Why do you keep avoiding me?”

The pounding on the door prattled on for a few moments more as Marinette laid face first on the ground, catching her breath. As the noise drifted into silence, she risked a peek to where Stephanie stood, her eye glued to the peek hole. 

“Are we clear yet?”

“Almost, Mrs. Baker from across the hall is giving him her signature lecture.”

The two girls shared a giggle as Marinette pushed herself into a sitting position. 

“But you know Mari, he did bring up an interesting point.”

“And what was that?”

Stephanie’s mischievous glare turned to her, her stunning blue eyes boring hole into Marinette’s.

“At least twice a week, some guy offers to walk you home in an attempt to ask you out and every week, you always turn them down. Why is that I suppose?”

Her hand gracefully extended to offer Marinette help. Marinette’s eyes darted to where the hand awaited, the rogue in her cheeks beginning to monopolize her face as she slowly reached up to accept it. 

“I don’t know Steph. Maybe I’m not just that into them.”

In one swift motion, Stephanie had pulled her to her feet, Marinette’s forehead level with the girl’s chin as she tilted up to get a better view of her roommate. While she had grown some over the year, Marinette had barely hit 5’0” leaving the blonde girl a cool half foot taller than her. 

“Hmm, I don’t think it’s just them.”

Stephanie’s slim fingers cupped her chin as she pulled her tilted head upward, Stephanie’s own head tilting down until their noses were mere centimeters apart. Her eyes were sparkling, captivating Marinette every thought until she couldn’t remember how she had gotten herself into this position. She was so close to the very lips that had starred in her dreams for the past six months. She wondered if they would taste like strawberries, just how she imagined. 

“Maybe, you’re not into guys at all. Could that be it Ms. Dupain-Cheng?”

“I-i,” Marinette’s eyes flickered between her roommates lips and the piercing, inquisitive eyes that seemed to be taunting her. 

“Oh well, you like who you like huh? What do you want for dinner? I’m thinking of ordering a pizza, whatcha think?”

In a flash, she was gone, leaving Marinette a stumbling hot mess as she coyly walked away, her ever present smirk returning to her face. The smaller girl couldn’t help the flustered red that had moved from her cheeks to down her neck. The lingering smell of something tropical followed wherever Stephanie stood, and now as Marinette shook away her previous thoughts, she could notice the small blush that lingered on the blonde’s face as well. 

“Um yeah, Pizza-a sounds me to great, I mean great me to, ugh great to me.”

Stephanie’s giggle rang in her ears as she darted past the blonde and into her room, mumbling something that sounded close to ‘call me when it’s here’ before slamming her door shut. She couldn’t will her heart to still as she slumped against the door, her mind replaying just how close she was to her roommate. 

Absentmindedly, her hand reached up, tracing her lips. Her imagination began drifting to the idea of closing that distance the next time she had a chance, but if she tried and she was wrong about how Stephanie felt, she would be no better than the guys that pursued her from class. 

With a great sigh, Marinette stood, moving herself onto her bed before her legs gave out again. Her hand flailed around her comforter until it connected on the cold smooth screen of her phone. Rolling over, she clicked on the first contact that she had, the one she always called about her girl problems. 

“Mariiiii, when are you coming to Gothammm? Dami is only ever nice to me when you’re heree.”

“Hi Dick, how’s it going Dick? I’m doing great Dick, thanks for asking.” Marinette chuckled as the boy sighed dramatically, the sound of him plopping echoing through the speaker.

“Fine, how are you Mari? I’m assuming you’re calling to gush about Steph again instead of fixing my Damian problems?”

“I never gush about her,” Marinette felt her cheeks flush again as Dick continued trying to shame her. “Dick, I just wanted to ask you how to ask her out?”

The line went silent, almost too silent for Dick. Marinette pulled the phone away from her cheek to ensure that she had not accidentally ended the call. Bringing it back to her ear, she called out hesitantly for her friend. 

“Ohhhhh, no no no, I’m still here, I’m still here, you just caught me off guard. You’re finally going to do it? Awww, Mari! I’m so excited! Okay, okay, where to start?”

Marinette felt wary as she listened in on the incoherent mumbling of Dick as he spewed what sounded like multiple scenarios for her love life. 

“I’ve got it!” The smaller girl couldn’t help but flinch as his voice rang through the phone. “You should invite her to a dinner and movie! That way you only have to talk for like an hour and the rest of the time gives you a break to step back and try to hold her hand. Yes, yes, it will be perfect!”

She wasn’t sure if perfect was the right word for it, but hearing the excitement in Dick’s voice gave her the push she needed. After some brief words of encouragement, Marinette tossed her phone to the side before pulling out her sketchpad, her eyes determined as she placed the tip of the pencil to the clean page. 

For a stunning woman who could make anything look good, Marinette was determined to make Stephanie the perfect date night outfit, one that her effortless beauty coils shine through. She was so lost in thought, she didn’t even notice the pitter of soft footsteps as they retreated from her closed door.   
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

As Friday evening rolled in, Marinette finally felt the nerves crashing down that she had been bottling all week. Gripping her carefully wrapped design, Marinette tried to count backward from ten to calm herself before entering the living room. 

“Marii, you home?”

Her voice was so sweet as it echoed through the hallway, so soothing calling her name. 

“Ah, there you are! What’s that?”

Marinette jumped slightly as the blonde seemingly materialized before her. Stephanie leaned in, her hair smelled fruity as it tickled Marinette’s nose. Gingerly, she poked the package, her eyes sparkling as the material gave way. 

“No way, did you make me something?”

Marinette nodded quickly as she shoved the gift into her roommate's hands, her face on fire as their hands brushed. Stephanie gently unfolded the paper, her eyes widening as she lifted up the dress, allowing it to fall to its full length. With a giant smile, she darted past the smaller girl and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. 

Moments later, she reemerged, sending Marinette’s heart into a frenzy.

“So, what do you think?”

The fabric hung off her every curve, just as the designer had anticipated, but perhaps she anticipated it a little too well. Her body was too distracting and Marinette’s eyes were traveling no matter how much she begged them to stop. 

“Mari?”

Her eyes snapped up to meet two mischievous blue ones, her blonde hair swinging freely around her pale face, just as distracting as the rest of her. 

“You’re beautiful Steph.” Her voice sounded foreign. Did it always crack like that? She wasn’t sure. 

“You’re right, I was thinking I would wear it on our Girl’s Night Out tonight!”

Stephanie’s smile was blinding as she feigned a twirl, admiring the fluttering material. 

“Girls night out?”

She nodded vigorously as Marinette’s skipping heart dropped to her stomach.

“I overheard you and Dick saying that we needed to go out and\\\\\\\ you’re so right, we haven’t been out just the two of us in a while. So what’d you say? Dinner and movie for a couple of besties?”

Marinette swallowed hard as she forced herself to nod. This wasn’t anything like she had planned. She was supposed to finally ask her on a date, show her the time of her life, find out if her lips really did taste like strawberries like they had in her dream. 

“Great! Now you go get changed and we can leave!”

Stephanie ushered Marinette into her room before pulling the door shut behind her. The designer stared at the outfit she had picked out on the bed, a pair of flared pants with a white turtleneck and the necklace she had never returned to Stephanie. It felt pointless and she couldn’t stop the hot tear that forced its way down her cheek. 

“Hurry up Mari!”

The knocking on her door snapped her out of it as she slipped out of her clothes and into the ones on her bed. This wasn’t the time for crying, this was the time for a change of strategy. Stephanie wanted a girl’s night out? Fine. But for Marinette, tonight would be the night that she answered the question she so desperately wanted to know. 

Cracking open the bedroom door, she forced a smile as Stephanie gushed over their coordinated outfits. Gathering her purse and keys, she allowed her roommate to drag her out of their apartment, the wheels turning before the door had even shut.   
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Every single one of Marinette’s plans had failed. 

She tried at dinner to ask Stephanie how she felt, but the girl became easily distracted by the band that traveled from table to table serenading couples. As they walked to the movies, she attempted to grab her swinging hand, but Stephanie was faster as she linked their arms, dragging her faster to the theater. Finally, during the movie, she tried to sneak her arm around Stephanie’s shoulders, but the girl mistook it for her grabbing popcorn and moved the snacks into Marinette’s lap. 

At this point, it felt hopeless. 

“Marinette, are you going to tell me what’s wrong? You’ve been down all night. Kind of hard to enjoy a girl’s night out when you’re all bummy.”

Marinette couldn’t help the cringe that came with those cursed words leaving Stephanie’s mouth. They mocked her every attempt to turn this into a date.

“Stephaine, I never meant for this to be a girl’s night out.”

“Oh?” The blonde cocked her head to the side as she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, her mischievous blue eyes glistening as always. “Then did I misunderstand something? Was Alya supposed to come in and you were going to ask her to accompany you this evening?”

“No!” Marinette cleared her throat before trying again. “No, I wanted it to be you, but I-uh-well-you see- itwassupposedtobeadate.”

“What was that?”

Stephanie was just rubbing salt into her wounds as those blue eyes shined like two spotlights on Marinette’s face. Of course, she wasn’t interested, why would she be? 

“Nevermind, forget I said anything, let’s just go home.”

As Marinette took a step forward, a hand shot out, gripping hers, forcing her to turn around. Her forehead collided with Stephanie's chest earning a small yelp of protest from the girl as she tried to pull away from the hug.

“Stupid Marinette, I knew you were going to ask me out, I just was curious to see if you’d correct me.”

Marinette stopped struggling as she propped her head up to get a better view of her roommate. 

“You...knew?”

Stephanie nodded before a giggle slipped through breaking into full-blown laughter. Marinette felt the blood rush to her cheeks from both the embarrassment and anger she felt. 

“Don’t play with my emotions like that Stephaine! I really like you okay?”

The giggles ceased as Stephanie raised an eyebrow at the smaller girl. With one sudden movement, her lips came crashing down onto Mari’s. It was quick and messy and when she pulled back, Marinette was positive that she was going to explode.

“I’m not playing with anyone’s emotions. I like you too Marinette.”

Marinette stared in awe at the blonde as her forehead rested on hers, both girls donning ear-splitting smiles as the world seemed to stop. 

“Uhm, Stephanie, would you like to be my girlfriend?”

“Is that your extremely adorable way of asking me out?”

Marinette nodded slowly, careful not to break contact with the blonde, terrified the moment would end. 

“Then yes, I absolutely would love to.”

Stephanie’s lips inched closer, patiently waiting to connect with Marinette’s once more. As they were mere centimeters away, Marinette pulled back her head, breaking the serenity they had formed. 

“One rule though.”

“Oh?” Stephanie raised her eyebrows in challenge at the smaller girl. 

“You are never ever allowed to utter the words girls night out ever again.”

Stephanie’s smile was blinding as she pecked her girlfriend's cheek.

“Never again, I promise.”

In one smooth movement, Marinette tangled her fingers in the blonde’s hair, pulling her face down until their lips met. 

Only one thought crossed her mind as she rode on the high of kissing the girl before her. 

Her lips really do taste like strawberries.


	20. An Average Night In Gotham City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> So I know you've been very busy so just stay strong, I know you can do it! :) I was also wondering if I could request more sibling jasonette with the Joker going after Marinette once he finds out they're related? Take your time getting to this request if you need to, I know it'll be great when you get to it! Don't stress yourself out too much!

Marinette couldn’t believe her luck.

Being the holder of the ladybug miraculous, you would think that everything would go her way, but it seems that Tikki had a funny way of distributing that good luck.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

The rank smell of something souring surrounded her senses as she dangled from the ceiling by her wrists. She was certain that there would be some difficult bruises to hide later but that was the least of her concerns at the moment.

“What you have is a pissed off college student. Who snatches someone from a library? Don’t you have any respect for my education?”

Something sharp poked her back causing her to hiss in pain.

“Now, now, I really do love Gotham State University and if it was game day, I wouldn’t dare step foot on our campus, Gothamite pride and all. But you my dear, well once I learned that you attended the school, I just had to stop by and say hello.”

His maniacal laughter would strike fear in the hearts of most, but honestly, she was just too pissed at this point to care.

“Okay, you said your piece, may I return to the library? I have a paper due at midnight tonight and I literally only have one paragraph finished.”

Another strike against her back felt hard enough to draw blood. The Joker was not in a joking mood tonight.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, How rude of you to want to leave when you just arrived! You batbrats are all the same, always in a rush. That’s why Jason is my favorite little bird. He always makes time for me,” his dreamy sigh faded into a scowl and in one quick movement, he was face to face with Marinette, his hand forcing her to stare into his eyes, “At least he used to. With you in town, he never seeks me out anymore!”

Releasing her cheeks, he turned away in a mock sob, using the edge of his purple tie to wipe away his tears.

“Maybe it’s because you two have an abusive relationship. I mean who wants to seek out someone that beats the shit out of them all the time.”

Joker stroked his chin thoughtfully as if her words carried some weight to them.

“Perhaps you’re right, maybe my last beating didn’t express enough love and admiration. How do you beat him to show him you love him?”

With a snap of his fingers, one of his men rushed forward to place a stool in front of him. Plopping down, he crossed his legs, motioning for her to speak.

“Uhm, well, I don’t beat him. Being my brother and all, we fight on the occasion, but if I want him to know I love him, I bake his favorite sweets or surprise him with a visit to his work.”

“Ah ha! That’s what I have to do! I got too reliant on my good old friend seeking me out, but maybe every once in a while I should seek him out!”

“Wait, that’s not really-” She couldn't finish her sentence as a crackle of electricity echoed through the warehouse. Her breathing was labored as she slowly began to come to terms with her situation.

“You know little batbug, you are slowly becoming a second favorite of mine. Of course, none of you could ever replace Batsy himself, but I would be lying to myself if I wasn’t fond of you and my Jason.”

If this was how he treated his favorites, Marinette was terrified to think of what Tim or Damian would go through if they were in her place right now. As he continued his monologue of the highs and lows of his and Jason's great relationship, Marinette took the time to take stock of her options.

There were ten men in total, more than likely at least five more outside posting guard. Fifteen wouldn’t be too hard, but there was one wildcard she couldn’t account for. Joker hardly ever accepted a fight that he wouldn’t believe to be fun and if she was honest, she couldn’t figure if he would jump in or not.

Tikki had already been working at the ropes holding her wrists, it was mere moments before they snapped, the only thing that stood in her way was that clown.

“-anywho, I suppose it’s time to go pay Jason a visit. Boys, leave this one alive. I like her.”

There was a slight groan of annoyance that sprinkled throughout the room.

Now was her time. The minute Joker stepped foot outside of the warehouse, she would be able to escape with almost no effort. As the doors slid open, Marinette nodded to Tikki to chew through the last rope.

“Where is she?” A frantic voice spilled through the front door causing Marinette’s eyes to snap into focus.

Several guns were trained on Jason as he gripped the front of Joker’s suit, his fist curled and ready to strike.

He came for her.

It wasn’t that she had any doubt, but she figured that her emergency tracker hadn’t sounded after seeing the response time from the team. As she dropped softly to her feet, Marinette slammed her elbow into the nearest man’s neck, gripping his gun as he dropped to the ground.

A few guns shifted from Jason to Marinette, seemingly unsure who was the bigger danger at this point.

“Oh Jason, I knew you cared. Marinette said I might have to seek you out, but that’s just not true is it. You always find your way back to me.”

His laughter was infuriating and Marinette could tell Jason was seeing red. If she didn’t get them out of there in the next few minutes, there was no telling if she could stop him from murdering the clown in front of him.

“You stupid clown, I could care less if you attack me, but you leave her out of this you understand?”

The Joker shook his head, a small giggle escaping his lips as he waved his men to stand down.

“Leave her out of this? Oh Jason, batbug there has become one of my new favorites. But don’t you worry, you’re still number one in my book.”

Marinette felt a shiver throughout her body at the sound of the growl that emitted from Jason.

“Jason, let's just leave. This isn’t a fight for today.”

There was no response as he and the Joker remained locked in an invisible argument, neither budging at the sound of her voice. Taking a step closer, she kept her gun trained on the clown, her eyes scanning the other men for any sudden movements. Instead of fighting her, they parted to allow her to get closer, all of them feeling equally confused as her.

Lowering her gun for a brief moment, she reached out to place a gentle hand on Jason’s shoulder.

“Jason, not today.”

She felt the tension in his body melting under her touch as he loosened his grip in the Joker’s suit. With one last glance, Jason dropped the man to the floor, turning to pull Marinette into a tight hug. 

“Your stupid tracker needs an update. Tim could only place it near this area and it took me entirely too long to get here.”

Marinette winced under his tight grip, the realization of her wounds finally hitting her. Pulling back, she nodded to Jason as they both moved to walk out the door.

The sound of several guns switching off safeties echoed, causing them both to stop in their tracks.

“Joker, let us go.”

Her eyes met his as he lifted himself from the floor, brushing off the imaginary dust he had acquired. There was a certain glint in those eyes that screamed danger to her. They both shared a mutual understanding that he knew far too much and that he could attack whenever he wanted. This advantage seemed to please him as he nodded, motioning for his men to stand down once more.

“Batbug is right, this would be no fun if the two of you were dead. So many interesting possibilities for the future, it’s so exhilarating.”

The sound of his laughter stayed with her even after they were blocks away from the warehouse.

“Batman was right behind me, I’m sure he’ll get there before they have time to clear out.”

Marinette nodded absentmindedly as Jason pulled them into the nearest ally. As gently as possible, he lifted the back of her shirt to exam the wounds. Letting out a low whistle, he began to patch them one by one, the stinging of antiseptic cutting just as deeply as the wounds had.

“Mari, what were you doing before that clown kidnapped you? It doesn’t look you struggled much, there only seems to be torture wounds.”

Marinette’s eyes widened as she suddenly remembered.

“Jason, we have to get back to the library! My paper is due at midnight! That idiot snapped me while I was writing, I only have one paragraph done and I don’t even know if it saved.”

Jason struggled to bite back the laughter that was fighting to escape.

“You know Marinette, this is what you get for waiting to the last minute. Don’t you know by now that there is a fair chance of getting kidnapped while you’re trying to do school work?”

Marinette reached backward swinging blindly as Jason’s laughter finally bellowed through. As he pulled her shirt back down into position, Marinette turned to give him one last hug before she took off into the night.

Jason and Tikki shared a look. Together, they took off after her, giggling and calling after her as they raced through Gotham’s streets. All in all, it really was just another average night in Gotham City.


	21. Family Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @leagrey asked: Can you do one where all the Wayne’s meet marinette before knowing she’s dating Damian and something happened to her parents and Bruce already has the adoption papers and damiens like no father u can’t adopt my gf

“I would like to apologize in advance. Father and his feral mistakes are very lively people and I fear they will take too much of a liking to you. If it is at all uncomforting, just squeeze my hand and we will leave.”

Marinette glanced over as Damian stared menacingly at the oak doors in front of them. It had only been a year since she had met him, but he had never once mentioned the idea of her meeting his family. Maybe it was because he knew today was special and he knew that meeting them was her only request of him for the longest time.

“Do you feel uncomfortable Damian? If so, please don’t put yourself in this position because of me.”

“Tt, utter nonsense. Me? Uneasy? Now you are just babbling.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth at the sight of the red threatening to overtake his cheeks.

“Well then, I guess there is no point in standing outside all day huh?”

Before her fist even made contact with the door, it flung open. Several curious faces piled in the doorframe, all trying to get a good look at her in case Damian changed his mind in an instant.

“You idiots, back up now or I’m leaving with her.”

A mutter of apologies echoed through the door as Marinette bit back the chuckle. With a great sigh, Damian motioned for her to step through the entrance, his tense body signaling that he was already ready to throw in the towel.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you all, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Her half-wave seemed to send a shock wave through the room as all eyes narrowed in on her, watching her every movement. Cautiously, she lowered her hand. A moment of silence passed and then two. Everyone seemed locked onto her, unsure of what to say and if she was being honest, she had the slightest idea as well.

“Are you all crowding her? Shameful. I thought I told you to wait in the dining room.”

It was as if the heavens had parted and uttered a command. Several bodies darted in different directions and in seconds, the hallway had been cleared save for Marinette, Damian, and an older man with graying hair and a killer smile on his face.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, we are truly honored that Master Damian has allowed you to grace us with your presence for dinner this evening. I apologize for Master Bruce’s charges. They really are all excellent kids, but rare elements such as yourself tend to erase their minds of any manners I worked so hard to instill in them.”

He shook his head in mock disappointment as he offered her his hand.

“Oh please, don’t worry about it, Mr. Alfred. I’m sure they were just as excited as I was.”

Taking his hand, she did her best to give a strong shake. His warm smile seemed so inviting, but the thought that he could clear a room with just a sentence shook her to her core.

“Please, just Alfred is fine. May I escort you to the dining room?”

Marinette nodded as she blindly reached backward for Damian’s hand to drag him along. If the butler had noticed, he made no comment as he led them.

“And here we are, I will return shortly with the first course for tonight. I do hope you enjoy the meal. I have prepared special platers for you and Master Damian to commandeer for your dietary restrictions.”

Before she even had the chance to thank him, he whisked away, leaving her to stand by Damian’s side in front of the largest dining room table she had ever seen.

“Welcome.”

Her eyes darted to the head of the table where a dashing man stood, his eyes kind and welcoming as he motioned to the two empty seats beside him. It all felt so overwhelming, too many sets of eyes for her to count were plastered on her alone. Shuffling along, she managed a small curtsey to the man before allowing Damian to help her into her seat.

A small murmur erupted from the dining room table. Had she done something wrong? Perhaps she had set herself up at the table, but Damian just got so flustered about those sorts of things, insisting he wanted to be a proper gentleman.

“I’ve heard very little about you Ms. Dupain-Cheng, but the little I have been able to wrestle out of my son has been nothing short of blessings.”

Marinette was sure her face was burning as she muttered a small thanks.

“I apologize for the huge turnout. When I mentioned to my oldest that Damian was bringing a friend home for dinner, it seems word spread fast. They all wanted to meet the person who managed to break through to him that wasn’t Jon.”

His smile appeared jokingly as he glanced over the near full table.

“But please, where are my manners? My name is Bruce and please feel comfortable to refer to me like that. The three boys across from you are my oldest Dick, Jason, Tim, and Duke.”

Dick’s smile was blinding as he reached over the table to shake her hand vigorously.

“I’m so glad my little boy has made a friend and such a beautiful and well-mannered one as well!”

“Yeah, I wonder how he did that?” Jason, at least that’s what she believed his name was, stroked his chin thoughtfully as he stared down the two. Duke began to stroke his chin as well before he leaned across the table, shielding his mouth from where Damian sat.

“Hey, Marinette, blink twice if he’s threatening you or your family’s lives in any way.”

There was a small thud from under the table as Duke flinched slightly in his seat.

Bruce shook his head as he motioned past the boys and to the girls that sat on the other side of Damian.

“On this side of the table are my daughters in all but paperwork. Barbara, Cassandra, and Stephanie.”

“Uhm, you forgot one pop.”

The girl at the end of the table kicked her feet up onto the table, her mischievous smile poking at Bruce’s patience.

“How could I ever forget you, Harper? I was just saving you for last.”

Harper sent a wink in Marinette’s direction earning a giggle from the girl.

“Miss Harper, I must ask you to refrain from placing your feet on the table as I serve out the first course.”

Instantly she straightened in her seat as Alfred seemingly materialized from behind. The smile on his face as dangerous as ever. Marinette could finally see what Damian was worried about, his family was absolutely wild. Her eyes drifted from each person as they absentmindedly chatted in small groups.

Damian’s hand found hers under the table, giving her a slight reassuring squeeze.

“Marinette, I must apologize for dinner being so late. I had to work over today and even if I got out earlier than usual, I must admit it is not early enough. Please apologize to your parents for my inconsiderate job.”

Marinette swallowed hard as she sat down her fork.

“Oh, uhm, I suppose Damian didn’t tell you. I-uh-live on my own in the city.”

All of the chatter in the room fell silent and once more, she could feel the heat of every stare in the room on her.

“Oh? Are they okay with that? Gotham isn’t exactly known to be the safest at night.” His chuckle was humorless as he watched her bright eyes dull.

“I actually came to Gotham on my own merits, a fresh start if you will. My parents died last year in a bakery fire. Papa tried to find me, thinking I was home, but even as Maman begged him to leave the building, he couldn’t leave believing I was still in there.”

She felt a single hot tear trail down her cheek, but she was quick to wipe it away before any more could follow.

“I apologize, I had no idea.”

Marinette shook her head vigorously as the apologies spewed out of her mouth.

“Please, forget I said anything at all. I one hundred percent overshared. Now dinner will be so awkwardly, please, it’s been a year, I’m okay.”

The conversation started back slowly, but once it did, Marinette couldn’t stop laughing. She shared with them her business and talked about how she and Damian first met. Tim couldn’t wrap his head around the thought that Damian would have actually stopped on the street to comfort her.

“I mean, what are you? A demon tamer? Teach me your ways sensei.”

As Alfred collected the final plates for the evening, Marinette felt better than she had in a long time. When it came time to leave, Bruce offered to escort them back to the front.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, may I ask how old you are?”

“16.”

Bruce’s stare was concerning as he reached out to pick up her hand.

“How do you live in an apartment then?”

“Oh, My grandmother signed the lease. She technically lives with me, but she’s such a free spirit, I couldn’t possibly expect her to stay in one spot. I mostly live there on my own. Honestly, I’m quite jealous of the large family Damian has, he is very lucky.”

Marinette thought she had to be hallucinating. Bruce Wayne almost seemed to be vibrating the more she talked.

“You know Marinette, this manor is quite spacious. If you ever need-”

“Absolutely not.”

In one quick movement, Damian was between them, his glare ready to cut through his own father.

“But Damian-”

“Father I cannot allow you to adopt my girlfriend!”

Bruce’s jaw dropped as he finally noticed the constant contact that the two had initiated all night. At first, he thought it could be just her way of keeping herself grounded, but the more he thought back on it, it did seem quite like how a couple would act.

“Dammit, now I owe Steph $20.”

Marinette peeked behind Bruce where all of Damian’s siblings stood exchanging money, Tim looking especially upset as he handed the blonde a crisp bill. For what felt like the billionth time tonight, Marinette felt her face flush.

“You are all utter buffoons. Father, we will complete this conversation later. As for now, I will escort Marinette back to her apartment and I will be taking the car.”

Damian’s hand intertwined with hers as she allowed herself to be dragged from the manor. A chorus of goodbyes echoed after her, even Alfred waved her goodbye as he graciously shut Bruce’s mouth for him. As she climbed into the car, Marinette leaned over to place a small kiss on Damian’s cheek.

“What was that for?” The stutter in his voice was something she adored, something that only ever appeared when she caught him off guard.

“Thank you for letting me meet your family today. It turned a bad day into a good one.”

“Yeah, whatever,” the red of his cheeks betrayed his indifferent attitude as he shifted the car into drive.

As the manor disappeared in the rearview mirror, only one thought remained on her mind.  
Just how would the conversation go with Bruce when Damian returned?

The thought alone made her smile.


End file.
